Associate Professor
Dr. Crystal L. Cederna joined the Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health in Fall, 2023. Her motivation? In Dr. Cederna’s words: “After serving over 4,000 families, one thing became abundantly clear – the mental health care system needs reform. As it stands, services are hard to access, delivered too late, and not always effective. Much like medical health care, mental health care needs to be preventive and promoting to the fullest extent possible. When issues can’t be prevented altogether, then mental health services need to be delivered in the right place, at the right time, in a way that’s aligned with what kids and families need. I moved to the C.S. Mott Department of Public Health to conduct the research, develop the right partnerships, and provide the clinical care needed to move the needle in these much-needed directions.”
Dr. Cederna is a licensed psychologist with clinical expertise in developmental-behavioral pediatrics, medical education, clinical psychology, and pediatric psychology. She historically served as an associate director of a pediatric residency program (8 years) and directed a developmental-behavioral pediatrics rotation (15 years), interpersonal and communication skills curriculum (10 years), behavioral health services (7 years), and a pediatric psychology fellowship (5 years) at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, MI. Presently, she provides expert psychological care to families and consultation to organizations that train providers in behavioral health issues or provide care to youth.
As of October 2024, Dr. Cederna has delivered 59 national and 17 state or regional peer-reviewed presentations, workshops, and trainings. She’s published 13 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, developed ten unique and innovative training curricula, and served as a mentor to many. Community-informed and community-engaged, Dr. Cederna participates (as a listener!) in focus groups with parents and youth, provides outreach to local folks concerned with child mental health, serves on the advisory council for Ele’s Place, and delivers live-time talks with heavy question-and-answer time to deepen community-wide mental health literacy.
Moving forward, Dr. Cederna envisions developing partnerships that allow kids to access evidence-based, culturally responsive interventions in the spaces and places they live and play – schools, community centers, spiritual support spaces, and more. Alongside such efforts, Dr. Cederna is also invested in expanding the mental health workforce to familiar adults when mental health needs are detected early (a.k.a., before doctoral level, fellowship-trained specialty care is needed to address the problem). By applying a research lens to her work, Dr. Cederna aims to monitor the outcomes of her efforts, making adjustments over time, and ultimately contributing to advancing the science of mental health practice while reforming the policies that shape it.
Favorite Quote: “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou
Selected Publications
Bonifacio, K., Cederna-Meko, C. L., Ellens, R. E., & El-Alam, N. (January, 2023). Beyond clinical care: The role of pediatric psychology in supporting postpartum depression screening in primary care. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings. doi.org/10.1007/s10880-022-09934-0. PMID: 36627416.
Cederna-Meko, C. L., Ellens, R. E., & Dennis, S. (November, 2021). Chapter 9: Unique considerations for psychologists in pediatric critical care. In Stucky, K. J. & Stevenson-Jute, J. (eds.). Critical Care Psychology and Rehabilitation: Principles and Practice. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780190077013.
Cederna-Meko, C. L., & Ellens, R. E. (March, 2020). Chapter 36: CL psychologist’s role in medical education.In Carter, B. & Kullgren, K. (eds.). Clinical Handbook of Pediatric Psychological Consultation in Pediatric Medical Settings. (book chapter). Springer Publishing. ISBN-13: 978-3-030-35597-5.
Cederna-Meko, C. L., Ellens, R. E., Burrell, K., Perry, D., & Rafiq, F. (September, 2016). An exploration of behavioral health productivity and billing practices within pediatric primary care. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 41(10), 1133-1143. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsw063. PMID: 27498983.
Selected Media Coverage
Cederna-Meko, C. L., O’Connell, L., Sadler, R., Jankowski, E., Tomkins, L., & Fleming, S. (August, 2017). It takes a village: The story, research, & response to the water-based lead exposure in Flint, MI. Collaborative symposium presented at the annual convention of the. Washington, DC.
CV: Available upon request by emailing cedernac@msu.edu.
