Centering Peer and Family Support: Multidisciplinary Collaboration

Panel Presentation Recording


Panel Presentation Summary

This panel presentation occurred during the 2022 South Southwest MHTTC First Episode Psychosis conference on June 2nd. Dr. Molly Lopez was the panel moderator and the panel members were Angie Tyler, Clayton Carrier, and Hiram Cortes.

Presentation Summary: Coordinated specialty care (CSC) for early psychosis offers a range of multidisciplinary services, including medication management, recovery coaching, family support, peer support, supported employment and education, and psychotherapy. Growing research and lived experience highlights the integral nature of peer and family support roles within these teams. However, peer support specialists have identified the importance of role clarity and teamwork to be effective in their roles. This panel explored strategies for effective multidisciplinary collaboration that centers peer and family support roles. Panelists discussed peer and family support roles, role clarity and collaboration, and overcoming barriers to effective centering of these roles.


About the Panelists

Moderator

 

Dr. Molly Lopez (she/her/hers)

Director

Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health

 

Molly Lopez is the Director of the Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health, a licensed clinical psychologist, and a research associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Her research interests include child and adolescent service systems, implementation of evidence-based practices, and mental health systems development and policy. She has led a number of initiatives focused on enhancing the effectiveness of systems that interact with children, youth, and adults with significant mental health challenges and their families. Dr. Lopez currently serves as a director of the South Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) and principal investigator on the Early Psychosis Intervention Network in Texas (EPINET-TX).

Panelists

 

 

Angie Tyler (she/her/hers)

Certified Bilingual Family Partner

Integral Care

 

Angie Tyler has been working with Integral Care RA1SE Team for 5 years and 7 months. She is part of a team in Austin, TX. As a Certified Bilingual Family Partner, she is able to share her lived experience with families and help them navigate through community resources. Her work background includes working with Travis County Juvenile Probation, Caseworker at Lifeworks for Homeless foster Youth, and Arc of the Capital Area working with IDD services as well as with the Juvenile Justice Program. The work she feels most proud of is with Integral Care RA1SE team because it has allowed her the honor to walk with so many families through their own journey and to give them hope and encouragement in their most challenging moments.

 

 

Clayton Carrier (he/him/his)

Peer Support Specialist

Integral Care

 

Clayton Carrier works with young people in a First Episode Psychosis program in Austin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiram Cortes (he/him/his)

Program Manager

Integral Care

 

Hiram Cortes is currently working with Austin/Travis County integral Care with the RA1SE FEP program. He has training in CBT, CBTp, and CPT, trainings that help inform services for RA1SE clients. Part of his experience is collaborating with the multidisciplinary team including PEERS and Family Partner to deliver comprehensive and person-centered care to our population. He has previously worked at The Harris Center, in Houston, Tx where he first came to know about FEP programs via their Early Onset team.

 

Positionality Statement: The population served by RA1SE limits participants to range of 15-30, making it a very young population. The age of the population I serve is definitely something I keep in mind as I am very close to this age group myself. I am oh Hispanic culture (Mexican) and have interacted with some of those we serve as well as their families who have a similar cultural background. Being bi-lingual (Spanish) has also helped to facilitate rapport building and buy-in to the RA1SE program for some of these individuals. I am also aware that I am a first generation in my family to attend higher education and join the mental health field, giving me a unique perspective to families and individuals we serve as the majority come from low SES circumstances. My experience as a LPC and working specifically with trauma and CBT has allowed me to connect with a variety of populations, but working with the population served by RA1SE gives me an opportunity to work with individuals who have time to alter their lie course and increase their chances at “normalizing” their life trajectory. Alternatives to early intervention have been demonstrated to include homelessness, severe substance use, and/or being involved with the justice system. While there are many community relations and systems in place to help out the community at large, the programs currently available for the FEP population is minimal and not well known but for those in the mental health field. I see it as a great honor to also include in my work the duty of being an ambassador to our work and raise awareness of the services we provide and the results we have seen including individuals getting their GED’s/higher education, becoming employed, establishing careers, sobriety, and establishing a support system.

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