The Empathetic Environment: How Lighting Shapes Behavioral Health Outcomes

COURSE INFO

1 LU | HSW

September 10, 2026

11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Cannery Hall, Nashville

Speaker: Tommy Nichols, LC, EDAC, Ed.M., MBA
Business Development Director Healthcare, Acuity

COURSE OVERVIEW

This comprehensive course explores the critical intersection of safety, therapy, and technology in behavioral health lighting design. We will examine how evidence-based design principles can be applied to create environments that support patient healing while ensuring the highest standards of safety and durability.

Participants will gain a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape, including FGI Guidelines and Joint Commission standards, and learn how to select appropriate lighting solutions that balance ligature resistant requirements with residential-style aesthetics to reduce institutionalization and improve outcomes.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Regulatory Compliance – Identify and interpret key regulatory standards including FGI Guidelines, The Joint Commission (TJC), and NYS-OMH safety guidelines.
2. Evidence-Based Design – Apply evidence-based design principles to create therapeutic environments that support patient healing and reduce stress.
3. Safety & Durability – Evaluate lighting fixtures for ligature-resistant features, impact resistance (IK ratings), and ingress protection (IP ratings).
4. Therapeutic Controls – Implement advanced lighting controls, including tunable white and warm dimming, to support circadian rhythms and patient autonomy.