South Southwest MHTTC

A learning community among state education and mental health leaders involved in Project AWARE grants in the region.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Psychosis (CBT-P) is an evidence-based approach to support recovery for individuals experiencing psychosis. Case conceptualization can guide CBT-P individual treatment and team-based treatment in a multidisciplinary setting, such as a First Episode Psychosis (FEP) team. In these monthly case-based learning calls, First Episode Psychosis (FEP) Team Leads and Therapists in MHTTC Region 6 will practice using case conceptualization models for young people on their FEP teams. Each month, up to two providers will have the opportunity to present their case conceptualization and receive feedback from the group. Providers will be asked to submit their case conceptualization one week in advance of the call. Samantha Reznik, PhD, will facilitate the calls. Although the calls will practice using a CBT-P case conceptualization, other modalities may be integrated as clinically indicated by the conceptualization and an emphasis will be placed on shared decision-making and recovery-oriented approaches. Participants should expect to learn basic theory of CBT-P case conceptualization rather than to be competent in provision of full CBT-P. Further CBT-P training options will be discussed during the series.   Interested parties should register by completing this form by December 18, 2023 and expect to share at least one case conceptualization within the six-month series as well as having some materials to review in January. Applications will be reviewed and all applicants will be notified of the status of their selection by January 5, 2024. Accepted participants are expected to share at least one case conceptualization within the six-month series and will have some pre-work materials to review in January.   Facilitator Samantha Reznik is the current research postdoctoral fellow with the Advancing the Early Psychosis Intervention Network in Texas (EPINET-TX) project at the Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health (TIEMH), University of Texas at Austin. She has specialized in providing recovery-oriented services to individuals diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) and other underserved populations. She completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Arizona. She trained in Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Psychosis (CBT-P) at the Early Psychosis Intervention Center (EPICenter) in Tucson, Arizona. She completed an advanced clinical fellowship in rehabilitation and recovery for SMI at VA San Diego Healthcare System/University of California San Diego (VASDHS/UCSD), where she expanded her training in CBT-P and learned how to integrate Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R). She also completed a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded clinical internship at University of Kansas Medical Center to specialize in working with underserved populations.     Positionality statement:   I have been passionate about CBT-P since I saw how it can be used to effectively partner with young people in service of recovery. One important area of non-expertise in my use of CBT-P is that I do not have lived experience of psychosis or participating in CBT-P. Having a positionality as only provider rather than receiver of services, I am mindful that lived experiences may or may not align with the evidence base of CBT-P. I work to honor each individual’s lived experience of participating in CBT-P by sharing and collaboratively building any case conceptualizations and partnering in setting goals and techniques. I apply CBT-P flexibly and use CBT-P case conceptualization to guide therapy, which often incorporates strategies from other modalities.

The Region 6 Peer Support Advisory Committee (PSAC) to the South Southwest MHTTC meets on a monthly basis to collaborate across the states and tribal communities to identify and address common areas of need and share resources. Based on feedback from the PSAC, and needs identified by peers across Region 6, the MHTTC organizes training and technical assistance focused on peer retention and workforce development. This is a closed meeting.

It is imperative to create and maintain a safe, comfortable, open, and welcoming work environment with opportunities for learning and growth for organizations.  When considering a safe and supportive work environment, we must stress the importance of leaders who embrace and prioritize person-centered approaches. Creating a positive workplace challenges our individual and collective beliefs on what may be needed to create and sustain healthy work environments. Although there is no one answer, this resource can be helpful when building this environment within your organization.

The South Southwest MHTTC hosted this presentation on April 8, 2024. The program, facilitated by Dr. Heather Curry and Dr. Marianne Thomas, provided the foundations of identifying human trafficking, exploring trauma-informed and trauma-responsive interventions with victims and survivors, as well as techniques used when providing healing-centered care. About the Facilitators Dr. Heather Curry, PhD  Dr. Heather Curry has over a decade of experience through her scholarship, practice, and professional commitments with many of the most impactful systems of care for victims of human trafficking. She has served as Director for the Hillsborough County Commission on Human Trafficking, during which time she and the Commission, at the behest of the NFL, developed and executed the County’s plan to address Human Trafficking before, during, and over the Super Bowl. However, her approach to the phenomenon of human trafficking is always focused on what happens before, during, and after big events. She was also the Chief Liaison for Hillsborough County’s Juvenile Justice and Equity work. She holds her Doctorate. in Communication Theory from the University of South Florida. She has had teaching and research positions at the University of South Florida, Arizona State University, and Full Sail University during which she focused on social policy and homelessness, and community responses to matters of equity and vulnerability.  Dr. Curry also works with corporations, public sector clients, and non-profit organizations to address diversity, equity and inclusion. Her commitments, personally and professionally, have always been driven toward creating healthier, more responsive communities, in which issues such as human trafficking, can be prevented. Dr. Curry lives in Tampa, Florida with her two sons and two cats in an old, sometimes-lovely moneypit of a bungalow. She has made Tampa home since 2002.   Dr. Marianne Thomas, PhD  Marianne Thomas has an MA in Mental Health Counseling and a PhD in Behavioral Psychology.  As a survivor of human trafficking, Dr. Thomas used education as a way out of the life and has devoted her career to bringing awareness about the true problem of human trafficking in the United States, educating communities on the human trafficking problem in their area, and helping organizations to create or grow their own anti-trafficking program.     Early in her career, Dr. Thomas worked with women and children who experienced homelessness and with men and women within the incarceration system who also struggled with addictions.   She noticed a common thread of women who would trade their bodies for their, and their children’s, basic needs.   This recognition propelled her into the anti-trafficking movement.  Dr. Thomas began her work in the movement with the women she met within the world of homelessness.  Since then, she has worked with trafficking survivors across numerous populations. 

These documents provide information about Peer Specialists in crisis settings, including general competencies for Peer Specialists in crisis work, Peer Run Warmlines, Peer Navigation, Crisis Respite programs, Mobile Crisis Units, and Crisis Stabilization Units. Subject Matter Experts were consulted on this project and are referenced within each document in quotes as well as recognized as contributors. The content provided in these documents is not exhaustive. Contributors provided expertise; their contribution does not imply endorsement nor does it imply opposition to the document.