In this 60-min session we will explore the common challenges providers face when supporting people who see, hear, and otherwise experience things that others around them do not. Tasked with time-sensitive concrete requirements, such as completing an eligibility assessment or person-centered recovery plan (PCRP), professionals may struggle to meet the needs of the behavioral health system while also prioritizing the more immediate and subjective needs of the human being in front of them. Join Amy and Amanda as they share from both their relevant personal and professional experience regarding this challenge and highlight ideas for staying connected with yourself and the people you support. Although the session is brief, attendees can expect story-telling, short examples, and a few take-home resources.

Although there is increasing awareness of the social determinants of mental health, the intersection of social determinants and first-episode psychosis is still a developing field. This presentation will highlight the growth in the field and the increasing complexity that must be considered as it relates to structural racism and oppression. Evidence of the role of social determinants of mental health in driving inequitable outcomes in first-episode psychosis will be discussed. Finally, solutions for improving outcomes and achieving mental health equity will be considered. 

This presentation will explore ways to make meaning of experiences labeled as psychosis, as well as identify strategies for building partnerships to help navigate those experiences along the way. As we learn to pause and unpack not only our own purpose, but also the perspectives of those we are supporting, we can deepen our connections and more easily find the path to guide people toward becoming the experts of their own experiences in a way that works for them. Approaches from the Hearing Voices Movement and Intentional Peer Support will be introduced through the values of the Wildflower Alliance. Over a decade of working with people and their families – as well as a lifetime of first-hand experiences of voices, visions and unusual and extreme states – will inform the presentation.

Team dynamics can impact the care that is provided to young people in early psychosis programs. Fostering a positive dynamic can be challenging, and there are few trainings and resources to support early psychosis team leads in leadership and team dynamics. During this panel, early psychosis team leaders, Sharhonda Webster and Linda C Williams, will discuss how positive team dynamics can support individuals with early psychosis. They will discuss the potential impact of leadership styles and the importance of individualizing your leadership approach to each staff member, incorporating individual differences and culture. They will use their experience as team leaders to discuss considerations for managing team conflict, incorporating diverse perspectives, and changing team culture.  

Living with a psychotic disorder can be an experience of uncertainty, isolation and diminished hope for young people and their loved ones. For providers, supporting people with complex psychological conditions increases risk of burnout. This presentation discusses how intentional kindness and community building strategies are good medicine practices that can benefit young people with psychosis, families and care teams. 

Self-compassion involves treating ourselves kindly, like we would a close friend we cared about. Rather than continually judging and evaluating ourselves, self-compassion involves generating kindness toward ourselves as imperfect humans, and learning to be present with the inevitable struggles of life with greater ease. This talk will present theory and research on self-compassion, which a burgeoning empirical literature has shown to be powerfully associated with psychological wellbeing. It will also discuss the crucial role that self-compassion plays for caregivers in order to reduce burnout. A practice will be taught that can help individuals maintain balance in difficult situations involving caring for others. 

At just 17 years old, Leah Giorgini found herself navigating a descent to invisibility after a traumatic childhood marred with violence, neglect, and parental death led to a first episode of psychosis. Once a high achiever, Leah became a patient adrift from the world, paralyzed by antipsychotic medication and low expectations. However, when a progressive therapist lent Leah a book about Feminist Perspectives on Mental Health, Leah suddenly felt seen as a whole person in context and began to reemerge as a visible and capable individual.  
 
Now an Occupational Therapist working in nonprofit leadership, Leah is working to change the societal inequities that lead to and perpetuate human suffering. She will present her story and outline how connecting the dots of trauma, intersectionality, and occupation can lead to rights-based care that helps people feel seen and empowered.

Psychosis is often understood as an illness that happens to people, a brain problem that has little to do with what has happened in that person’s relationships with others or in their relationship with themselves.  Much evidence however points to a different reality, where psychosis quite often follows traumatic experience that damages both social and intrapersonal relationships, and where recovery typically involves the restoration of healthy relationships with both external and internal “others.” 

Treatment is different when we conceptualize psychosis as primarily a disturbance in relationships.  The goal then shifts from suppressing “symptoms of psychosis” to first finding healthy ways for us to relate to the person with psychosis and then ways to help them rebuild trust and constructive relationships with family, friends, and others including the parts of themselves from which they may have become alienated.

Members of the new SAMHSA-funded National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Early Serious Mental Illness (ESMI TTA Center) will (1) present an overview of the ESMI TTA Center’s work and activities and (2) provide practical tools, tips, and resources on Shared Decision Making in the context of working with people with early serious mental illnesses.