Overtree keynotes Safe Schools Summit in Northampton

Christopher Overtree. director of the Psychological Services Center, delivered a keynote address at the Northwestern District Attorney's Safe Schools Summit held Nov. 14 at Smith College.

Overtree's talk, "The Dignity of Expertise: Using Youth Empowerment to Improve School Climate and Culture," led local educators through the overall process of first understanding, and then reforming school climate issues that may be impacting the learning and social/emotional environment of a school.

A senior lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Overtree specializes in anxiety, depression, cognitive-behavior therapy, disorders of childhood and the challenges of parenting. He is a co-founder and senior consultant of the Center for School Climate and Learning, an educational consulting organization that helps schools achieve greater academic success by promoting positive school climate and respectful, engaged teaching.