Parenting is both rewarding and challenging. For parents of children with a mental illness, it can be especially demanding.

Learn how mental illness affects families at The Corvallis Clinic Foundation's next Eldon Younger Lecture. Child psychiatrists Dr. James R. Phelps and Dr. Richard Bingham will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Corvallis High School Auditorium, 1400 N.W. Buchanan Ave. The free talk is open to the public.

A panel discussion and audience questions will follow. Teachers, counselors, parents and other professionals who work with children and adolescents are encouraged to attend this event, which is co-sponsored by the Corvallis School District.

Phelps and Bingham will identify the barriers and stigma associated with treatment and diagnosis of mental illness. They will share insights to improving access to quality mental health care. Parents and educators will also learn about how mood and anxiety disorders are treated and prevented.

Phelps is an expert on bipolar disorders. He is in private practice in Corvallis and previously worked 10 years at Samaritan Mental Health. He has written extensively on bipolar disorder. His Web site, PsychEducation.org, assists patients and families with resources and references.

Bingham is board-certified in pediatric and general psychiatry. He shares an office and collaborates professionally with his wife, Julie Bingham, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist. Previously, he developed the Salem Hospital Child Psychiatry program, an acute intensive treatment program, and the Outpatient Consultation Clinic.

This event is part of a lectureship series named in honor of longtime community pediatrician Eldon Younger.