Products and Resources Catalog

By the end of this webinar, participants were able to describe: The nature of insight and treatment engagement in psychotic disorders An overview of the causes of impaired insight and treatment engagement in psychotic disorders. Approaches to management of impaired insight and treatment engagement/alliance in psychotic disorders.   Presenter: ​​Dr. Keshavan is Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, as well as Academic Head of the department. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Schizophrenia Research (Elsevier) and serves on the editorial board for journals such as Early Intervention in Psychiatry and Asian Journal of Psychiatry. His main areas of research include the neurodevelopmental basis of schizophrenia, neuroimaging, and early intervention. He has an active clinical practice.   This webinar was co-hosted by the Massachusetts Psychosis Network for Early Treatment (MAPNET, www.mapnet.online).

The Person-Centered Recovery Planning (PCRP) Consultation Corner is a 6-month learning series featuring a monthly webinar on the “FAQs” of PCRP; offering practical tools and resources to support quality PCRP at the level of both individual service delivery and organizational systems change; and providing follow-up “office hours” through smaller-group technical assistance for webinar participants who wish to take a “deeper dive” on a given topic. The topic for webinar session 2 was "Co-Creation of the PCRP Document-Partnering, Goal Discovery & Emphasis on Real Life Results." At the end of the series, participants will be able to: Define PCRP and its essential elements Increase familiarity with existing and emerging state and federal requirements regarding PCRP Articulate a minimum of three differences between traditional methods of treatment planning and best-practice PCRP Learn more about how the MHTTC PCRP Consultation Corner series can provide tools and resources to support the implementation of PCRP at your organization Presenters: Janis Tondora and Amy Pierce   Janis Tondora, Psy.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine.  Her work involves supporting the implementation of person-centered practices that help people with behavioral health concerns and other disabilities to get more control over decisions about their services so they can live a good life as they define it. She has provided training and consultation to over 25 states seeking to implement Person-Centered Recovery Planning and has shared her work with the field in dozens of publications, including her 2014 book, Partnering for Recovery in Mental Health: A Practical Guide to Person-Centered Planning. Janis’ consultation and publications have been widely used by both public and private service systems to advance the implementation of recovery-oriented practices in the U.S. and abroad. She is a life-long resident of Connecticut where she lives with her husband and beloved labradoodles after recently becoming an empty-nester with two children in college.   Amy Pierce (she/her) is an international trainer and consultant has been working in the Peer Movement in the State of Texas for over two decades. She currently serves as Recovery Institute Associate Director at Via Hope by serving as a subject matter expert on the implementation of peer services and other recovery-oriented practices. She has extensive experience in the peer support sector, having started the first peer support program in the state hospitals in Texas, working as a peer support worker in a community mental health agency, and working as the Program Coordinator for a transitional peer residential housing project.   This series is co-sponsored by the New England and South Southwest MHTTCs. More information about the series.

SMI Adviser is a 6-year initiative funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and administered by the American Psychiatric Association. SMI Adviser’s vision is to transform care for people who have serious mental illness so that they can live their best lives. To date, the website has been accessed over 1.9 million times and has been a resource for over 70,000 interdisciplinary learners.  In this presentation, we will provide clinicians a guide to the resources at SMI Adviser, with a focus on resources for working with individuals with early psychosis. We will also highlight resources that are found in our Centers of Excellence section, focusing on tools in the Clozapine and Long-Acting Injectable areas. We will also guide clinicians through our consultation service and share insights from the types of questions our users most commonly ask.   At the end of this presentation, participants were able to: Demonstrate knowledge of the available resources on SMI Adviser’s educational catalog and knowledge base. List and describe three tools in SMI Adviser’s Clozapine or Long-Acting Injectable Center of Excellence. Outline the process of accessing SMI Adviser’s consultation service, demonstrating the ability to effectively seek guidance to help make evidence-based treatment decisions. Presenters: Robert O. Cotes, MD, is an Associate Professor at Emory University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He serves as Physician Expert for SMI Adviser (www.smiadviser.org), which is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and administered by the American Psychiatric Association. SMI Adviser provides evidence-based resources to clinicians, individuals with serious mental illness, and their families. Sherin Khan, LCSW is Vice President of Operations and Strategy for Thresholds, Illinois’ oldest and largest provider of mental health services. Sherin also serves as the social work consultant as part of SMI Adviser, a SAMHSA funded clinical support system for people living with serious mental illness. She has over 10 years of experience in the non-profit sector with a focus on serving those who are disempowered. This webinar was co-hosted by the Massachusetts Psychosis Network for Early Treatment (MAPNET, www.mapnet.online).

Raúl Condemarín shares culturally responsive strategies that he uses as a psychiatrist with host Lola Nedic. This podcast episode is sponsored by the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (MHTTC).

The Person-Centered Recovery Planning (PCRP) Consultation Corner is a 6-month learning series featuring a monthly webinar on the “FAQs” of PCRP; offering practical tools and resources to support quality PCRP at the level of both individual service delivery and organizational systems change; and providing follow-up “office hours” through smaller-group technical assistance for webinar participants who wish to take a “deeper dive” on a given topic.   Participants were able to: Define PCRP and its essential elements Increase familiarity with existing and emerging state and federal requirements regarding PCRP Articulate a minimum of three differences between traditional methods of treatment planning and best-practice PCRP Learn more about how the MHTTC PCRP Consultation Corner series can provide tools and resources to support the implementation of PCRP at your organization Presenters: Janis Tondora, Amy Pierce, and Amanda Bowman   Janis Tondora, Psy.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine.  Her work involves supporting the implementation of person-centered practices that help people with behavioral health concerns and other disabilities to get more control over decisions about their services so they can live a good life as they define it. She has provided training and consultation to over 25 states seeking to implement Person-Centered Recovery Planning and has shared her work with the field in dozens of publications, including her 2014 book, Partnering for Recovery in Mental Health: A Practical Guide to Person-Centered Planning. Janis’ consultation and publications have been widely used by both public and private service systems to advance the implementation of recovery-oriented practices in the U.S. and abroad. She is a life-long resident of Connecticut where she lives with her husband and beloved labradoodles after recently becoming an empty-nester with two children in college.   Amy Pierce (she/her) is an international trainer and consultant has been working in the Peer Movement in the State of Texas for over two decades. She currently serves as Recovery Institute Associate Director at Via Hope by serving as a subject matter expert on the implementation of peer services and other recovery-oriented practices. She has extensive experience in the peer support sector, having started the first peer support program in the state hospitals in Texas, working as a peer support worker in a community mental health agency, and working as the Program Coordinator for a transitional peer residential housing project.   Amanda Bowman, LCSW-S, PSS (she/her) is a clinical social worker, certified peer specialist supervisor, and WRAPⓇ facilitator, using her professional and lived experience with mental health challenges to promote person-centered practices in behavioral health care. Coming from direct social work practice and administrative leadership within the public mental health system, she joined Via Hope in 2013, where she served as Recovery Institute Director until 2023. In this role, she oversaw the development and delivery of organizational change programs, which included statewide initiatives to support the implementation of person-centered planning, peer support services, and trauma-responsive work environments. As the owner of Sidecar Consulting, Amanda now facilitates collaborative learning events and serves as a subject matter expert for programs designed to support change within and across agencies. Outside of work, you may find Amanda with her family hiking the Barton Creek Greenbelt or enjoying live music.   This series is co-sponsored by the New England and South Southwest MHTTCs. More information about the series.  

Hosts Joey Rodriguez and Lola Nedic discuss culturally responsive strategies and the future of culturally responsive care. This podcast episode is sponsored by the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (MHTTC).

The New England MHTTC’s area of focus is the resilience and recovery of persons (and their loved ones) at risk for, living with or recovering from mental health challenges. During the reporting period, we continued to support and enhance the region’s capacity to provide equity-focused, recovery-oriented care across several dimensions. Our training and technical assistance (T/TA) explicitly aim to help promote recovery-oriented behavioral health systems of care and to move these systems beyond an acute care model to better meet the needs of persons with prolonged mental illness or substance use disorders (Davidson et al., 2021). A central aspect of recovery-oriented systems of care is the inclusion of people with lived experience at all levels of partnership–from service users, families, and direct peer support service providers to clinicians, managers, and administrators. Our T/TA aims to honor and promote those with lived experience in all our activities. The content and process of our work is grounded in our Guiding Principles on Resilience and Recovery. Consistent with these principles, we take an equity-minded approach to recovery-oriented care which recognizes that even the most progressive treatment systems exist within a social context where people of color and other historically marginalized groups often experience—both individually and collectively—an additional layer of trauma that has devastating consequences on their health and well-being. We are committed to proactively advancing social justice and racial equity as an essential component of recovery-oriented systems transformation across the New England region.

At the end of this presentation, participants were able to: Recognize the importance of understanding the historical context of the lives of older African Americans Recognize the importance of eliciting the older African American’s perspective of his/her mental and physical health challenges Elicit socio-cultural and spiritual beliefs that could influence an older African American’s health care choices and access to care Enhance knowledge of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of major mental health disorders when working with older African Americans   Presenter: Martha Crowler, PhD   This webinar was presented in collaboration with the Massachusetts Mental Health Center GrandRounds series.

The one-hour Reclaiming Native Psychological Brilliance virtual series provides an opportunity for participants to: Gain skills on strength-based approaches in partnership with Native People to enhance Native behavioral health, and Discuss ways that Native brilliance is demonstrated and supports behavioral health, and Learn about Native brilliance examples to share with behavioral health and other health care staff, as well as with local Tribal Nation citizens The concept of Native psychological brilliance will be celebrated through Native music videos and Native spoken word performances as part of each session of the Reclaiming Native Psychological Brilliance series.   February's topic was "Native Crisis Response (Part Two) – Escalation and De-escalation and Native Implications."

This webinar provided tips for working with families of individuals with psychosis in outpatient community settings. Questions that were addressed include:   How can I develop a good working relationship with families in order to support care even though I don’t have a lot of experience working with families and I have a large caseload? How can I manage confidentiality? How can I help families develop a better understanding of their relative and their symptoms and treatment? What are some important considerations for providing culturally responsive care when working with families? What can I learn to feel more equipped to support families entering care in the context of a recent onset of psychotic symptoms?   Presenter: Julie M. McCarthy, PhD, is a clinician-scientist in the Division of Psychotic Disorders at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. Her research aims to identify neurobiological and psychosocial treatment targets and develop/evaluate treatments for individuals and families experiencing co-occurring psychotic and substance use disorders.

Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) is an evidence-based, recovery-oriented, multidisciplinary treatment program tailored for individuals experiencing Early Psychosis. CSC involves joint treatment planning (or shared decision-making) between the people in treatment and recovery and their care team, which can include mental health providers such as peer specialists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and case managers. CSC can provide individual and family counseling, medication management, case coordination and assistance with educational and career objectives, as well as other services. Learn more in this brief and check out our free online course for more information.

  This presentation provided a brief overview of how harm risk (suicidality and self-injury) can present in young people experiencing early psychosis. We reviewed a selection of psychotherapy strategies that can be helpful in targeting these concerns, highlighting functional analysis, distress tolerance skills, and the CAMS (Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality). We discussed these strategies in the context of disguised client examples, and encouraged suggestions and case consultation from the audience.   Presenter: Michelle L. West, PhD, Director, Program for Early Assessment, Care, & Study (PEACS), Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado – School of Medicine (CUSOM). Dr. West is a clinical psychologist who specializes in assessment, treatment, and research for young people showing possible early risk for psychotic spectrum illnesses. This webinar was presented in collaboration with the Massachusetts Mental Health Center GrandRounds series.   View a recording of this 2/23/24 session here. 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. To achieve its mission, SAMHSA identifies priority areas to better meet the behavioral health needs of individuals, communities, and service providers.   Through its regional network— designed to improve the delivery of behavioral health services in each of the 10 HHS regions—SAMSHA develops collaborations that emphasize equity, trauma-informed approaches, and recovery. The collaboration between the SAMHSA Region One and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Region One offices, is an example of an intentional outreach effort developed to empower housing professionals with resources, tools, and practices that help them support and enhance the lives of public housing residents.

Dr. Gagen reviewed a metacognitive framework for understanding psychosis and discussed a specific psychotherapeutic intervention--Metacognition Reflection and Insight Therapy. We discussed the definition of metacognition and the four main domains that are measured, the relationship between metacognitive capacity and psychological distress, and the research evidence that supports this approach.   Presenter: Emily Gagen, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist at the Brookline Community Mental Health Center. She is the director of the Massachusetts Psychosis Access and Triage Hub (M-PATH) and a member of the team at the Center for Early Detection, Assessment, and Response to Risk (CEDAR). Dr. Gagen has worked with individuals with psychosis and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders for 15 years and specializes in the treatment of young adults with early psychosis.   View a recording of this 1/26/24 session here.

The one-hour Reclaiming Native Psychological Brilliance virtual series provides an opportunity for participants to: Gain skills on strength-based approaches in partnership with Native People to enhance Native behavioral health, and Discuss ways that Native brilliance is demonstrated and supports behavioral health, and Learn about Native brilliance examples to share with behavioral health and other health care staff, as well as with local Tribal Nation citizens The concept of Native psychological brilliance will be celebrated through Native music videos and Native spoken word performances as part of each session of the Reclaiming Native Psychological Brilliance series.   January's topic was “Evolution of Native Crisis Response (Part One) - 2024 Update."

Changing the Conversation is the official C4 Innovations podcast, where hosts and guests discuss critical and timely topics focused on equity, substance use, mental health, homelessness, and trauma. The New England MHTTC has sponsored episodes of the podcast that explore a variety of specific topics, including reaching and engaging Native youth, the importance, and benefits of fostering an authentic and inclusive environment in the workplace, and honoring lived experience. Podcast host Ashley Stewart shared behind-the-scenes discoveries and lessons learned from fascinating conversations. Ashley was joined by Ronitia Hodges, C4 Innovations Program Manager.

At the end of this event, participants will be able to: · Summarize the clinical significance of new information regarding the neurobiology and treatment of mental illness and comorbid chronic medical conditions, and integrate such data into their patient care. · Assess practice patterns relative to current best practices and modify their practice as appropriate and feasible. · Apply new developments in treatment methods to patients. Presenter: M. Mookie C. Manalili is a psychotherapist, professor, and researcher with particular interest in suffering, embodiment, meaning-making, narratives, memory, and ethics. He is a psychotherapist in a private group practice, utilizing narrative therapy, psychoanalytic approaches, mindfulness traditions, and neuroscience psychoeducation.   View a recording of this event here.   

Changing the Conversation is the official C4 Innovations podcast, where hosts and guests discuss critical and timely topics focused on equity, substance use, mental health, homelessness, and trauma. The New England MHTTC has sponsored episodes of the podcast that explore a variety of specific topics, including reaching and engaging Native youth, the importance, and benefits of fostering an authentic and inclusive environment in the workplace, and honoring lived experience. Podcast host Ashley Stewart shared behind-the-scenes discoveries and lessons learned from fascinating conversations. Ashley was joined by Ronitia Hodges, C4 Innovations Program Manager.

Our third session was a didactic and tangible one, and we encouraged participants to bring in examples from their organizations as presenter Ashley Stewart shared a resource handout that helps guide organizations through the stages of transformation. Attendees spent time in groups discussing essential questions like: What does it look like to acknowledge to engage in accountability and take action? What do we need to acknowledge? Where do we need to take accountability? And what does action look like?

This session informed participants about a variety of innovative strategies providers can share with families to assist them in supporting people who hear voices or experience other unusual beliefs or extreme states that are often labeled as psychosis. Internationally recognized educator, consultant, and presenter Cindy Hadge draws from her own experiences overcoming childhood trauma as well as her experiences supporting family members to fuel her passion and inform her work resulting in invaluable information and tools shared with participants.   Presenter: Cindy Hadge has become an internationally recognized educator providing training and consultations to mental health providers worldwide who are looking for innovative ways to approach voice-hearing and extreme states. She is also passionate about developing and facilitating healing spaces and workshops for families whose loved ones are not responding well to the current mental health system’s offerings. As Lead Trainer of the Wildflower Alliance, Cindy has keynoted a variety of conferences.   View a recording of this 1/9/24 session here. 

This presentation reviewed the history of evidence-based treatments for borderline personality disorder and the components common to all effective treatments, with a specific focus on Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Good Psychiatric Management. In addition to explaining both treatments’ components, theory, and evidence base, this presentation discussed the costs and benefits of each one and the situations in which they can be most effectively used.   Presenter: Dr. Choi-Kain is currently the Director of the Gunderson Personality Disorders Institute (GPDI), an internationally recognized center of training for empirically supported treatments for borderline personality disorder (BPD) and research on outcomes as well as the social cognitive mechanisms targeted in these interventions.   View a recording of this 1/10/24 session here. 

Amanda Weber and host Joey Rodriguez discuss culturally responsive care for youth experiencing early psychosis. This podcast episode is sponsored by the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (MHTTC).

  This talk discussed when, how, and why to prescribe clozapine. Dr. Laitman gave specific approaches to minimize predictable side effects and maximize benefits. He also presented his own data supporting this approach.   Presenter: Dr. Robert Laitman is an internist who specializes in the use of clozapine in an optimal fashion for individuals with schizophrenia or other psychotic spectrum disorders.   This webinar was co-hosted by the Massachusetts Psychosis Network for Early Treatment (MAPNET, www.mapnet.online)   View a recording of this session here. 

This 3-part series provided a detailed understanding of trauma and the various types trauma individuals experience. Sessions explored the impact of secondary/vicarous trauma on corrections staff by examining the various ways exposure to traumatic events impacts the individual, the work they do, and the individuals they engage with on a daily basis. This series also explored what is needed to establish a trauma-informed organization, the impact of stigma and bias, and finished with the interplay of two groups of trauma survivors - corrections staff, inmates, and/or parole/probation supervisees - and strategies to mitigate or reduce trauma activation potential among staff and those they supervise for more successful overall outcomes.   Session 3 discussed the disparate, significant impact of incarceration and reentry on women returning to the community; challenges, barriers, and strategies for improving outcomes for women reentering society.   Presenters: Daisy Hernandez, MSW, LCSW, MBA, C4 Innovations and Steven Samra, MPA, C4 Innovations   View a recording of this session here.