Alliance Note: We’re less than 2 weeks away from this year’s inspiration and information packed Annual Recovery & Rehabilitation Academy: please check full program details in the attachment or below and register today!
Empowering Lives: Cultivating Change, Connection and Collaboration
14th Annual Recovery & Rehabilitation Academy
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2023
REGISTER NOW HERE!
8:30-9:30 AM: Registration
9:30– 9:45 AM: Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:45–10:45 AM: Keynote:
Why You Do What You Do: Reflections from a Man Whose Life You Saved
David Woods Bartley
“On August 31, 2011, I was taken off a dark spot on a tall bridge and headed in a new direction. As it turns out, the day I thought would be my last day alive was the first day in a new life and the first step in a continuing journey away from mental “hellness” and into the delicious experience of mental wellness.
Each step, from the first I took twelve years ago to the ones I take today, has been made possible by an army of committed souls in various health specialties.
From the hospital admissions team and those in the emergency department, the psych ward staff, the counselors, therapists, and psychiatrists I have sat with over the years to the managers and behind-the-scenes superstars of every behavioral health program I have participated in.
These heroic men and women stand by people like me, loving, supporting, and guiding us toward our birthright, mental health.
In sharing my story, I want to remind each of them how they saved my life and how what they do every day saves the lives of countless others.”
10:45-11:00 AM: Break
11:00-12:00 PM WORKSHOPS ROUND ONE
- Skills Teaching: Teaching Skills is a Skill
Stephen Nawotniak, OTR/L, NYCPS, Training Implementation Specialist, The Alliance for Rights and Recovery; David Merlo, COTA/L, CPRP, Managing Director, Restoration Society
Have you ever asked yourself: “I know what this person’s goal is but what do we do next?” Skills teaching is an integral part of the psychiatric rehabilitation process that supports someone to attain a meaningful role in the community of their choice. This workshop will demonstrate the importance of partnership to help people to determine the critical skills they need to attain a life goal. The presenters will explore fundamentals of effective skill teaching and share an overview of the direct skills teaching process.
- Inspiring Action for Employment
Len Statham, MS, CBP, CPRP, Chief Operating Officer, The Alliance for Rights and Recovery; Karen Broadway-Wilson, BS, Implementation Specialist and Paul Margolies, Ph.D., Associate Director, The Center for Practice innovation at Columbia Psychiatry
While gaining employment is at the heart of many people’s most important life goals, some may find themselves hesitating at the threshold of the workplace. This energizing workshop will offer innovative strategies that spark inspiration and continued motivation to step into the world of employment. Get ready to help people transform their lives!
- To Disclose of Not to Disclose: A Balancing Act of Using Lived Experience in CORE & PROS
Lilly Prado, LMSW, NYCPS, Recovery Specialist, East Village Access PROS, Community Access; Pam Rivera, LMSW, NYCPS-P, Employment Specialist & HCBS Counselor, Gathering Place PROS & CORE, Mental Health Association of Nassau County; Monique Davis, MA, LMHC, PROS Professional Clinician, MHA of Rockland: Program for Self-Discovery PROS; Lana Rumore, LMHC, Director of Adult Rehabilitation/Treatment Services, MHA of Rockland; Valerie Mendoza, NYCPS, Direct Support Staff, ECHO (Engaging Communities Thru HARP Outreach) program, HCBS/CORE, Restoration Society; Cornelius Delaney, NYCPS, Program Manager and Community Engagement Officer, ECHO (Engaging Communities Thru HARP Outreach) program HCBS/CORE, Restoration Society; Moderators: Amanda Saake, LMSW, CPRP, NYCPS-P, Chief Advocacy Officer,, NYS Office of Mental Health; Danielle Lopez, MS, NYCPS-P, Regional Advocacy Specialist-Hudson River Region Field office, Office of Advocacy and Peer Support Services, NYS Office of Mental Health
Peer Specialists and Advocates are people with lived recovery from mental health conditions and significant life disruptions. They use their experience in services and their chosen recovery pathway to support people currently engaged in services throughout the mental health system, including PROS and CORE. Lived experience with mental health conditions is also prevalent among people working in non-peer roles in PROS and CORE. Regrettably, stigma can create fear for practitioners considering disclosing and using their personal lived experience in their work.
Additionally, Peer roles carry an expectation of disclosure for individuals employed in these roles, and this disclosure can sometimes be challenging for peers and non-peer staff working together. This panel features people who identify in both Peer and non-peer roles. The panelists will discuss their use of lived experience in their work, the impact of their experiences with the people they support in PROS and CORE and explore the potential benefits for recovery and rehabilitation services if more non-peers openly share their personal histories in their work.
12:00-1:15 PM LUNCH BREAK AND POSTER SESSIONS
1:15-2:30 PM GENERAL SESSIONS
- If You Connect, They Will Thrive; Three No-Cost Ways to Connect with People
David Woods Bartley
We are faced as a society with various issues that can potentially draw us into the cold space of isolation. On the other hand, the feeling of being connected with others ushers us into the bliss of mutuality, a state of relatedness that makes life that much better. The way for each of us to stay relationally warm and experience health is to unite with others. In other words, we can be most well when we are connected. While connection is the foundation of lasting wellness, many feel like we do not know how to create connections with others. Not to worry-you can learn how to connect anywhere, any time, and any place. This fun, fast-paced, and interactive session teaches three methods that are easy to use and highly effective at creating real and what can be life-changing connections in all areas of our lives.
- The Importance of Leadership in Building Strong Psychiatric Rehabilitation Teams
Anthony Salerno, Ph.D., Innovation and Implementation Officer, McSilver institute for Poverty Policy and Research; Paul Margolies, Ph.D., Associate Director for Practice Innovation and Implementation at The Center for Practice Innovation at Columbia Psychiatry
Implementation science literature emphasizes the critical role of leadership in the facilitation of high-performance teams that successfully adopt and sustain new practices, including psychiatric rehabilitation. Effective leaders have the knowledge and skills to inspire, guide, reinforce, and provide the support and resources required for the workforce to implement psychiatric rehabilitation approaches at a high level of quality. This session is designed to describe the characteristics of leaders who are most likely to support the professional development of practitioners who implement psychiatric rehabilitation services within their respective settings and organizational missions.
2:30-2:45 PM Break
2L45-3:45 PM WORKSHOPS ROUND TWO
- Utilizing Group Curricula to Optimize Success
Natalie Lleras, LCSW, CPRP, Associate Director at the Center for Recovery and Rehabilitation, inUnity Alliance, formerly The Coalition for Behavioral Health and Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers of NYS.
Using good group curricula is effective for many reasons. It should reflect culture and identity, keep up with a changing world, make learning consistent, and provide measurable targets, to name a few. This interactive workshop will move through nine steps to creating a curriculum that feels complete while addressing time constraints and challenges providers often face when creating curricula.
- So, You Learned Psychiatric Rehabilitation. Now What?
Boris Vilgorin, MPA, Healthcare Strategy Officer, McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research; Daniella Labate Covelli, MSW, CPRP, Director of Recovery & Rehabilitation, The Alliance for Rights and Recovery; Anthony Morano, MEd., Psychiatric Rehabilitation Specialist, Helio Health; Zachary Johnson, LCSW, Director of Mental Health Services, Phoenix House of New York/Long Island
Rehabilitation practitioners participate in training for many reasons; to better support people as they work towards personally meaningful goals, to increase positive outcomes for the people they support, and to feel more confident in their provision of services, just to name a few. So how do you really take the knowledge you’ve gained in training and make it actionable in the field?
What does what you’ve learned look like in real-world settings? How do you take concepts and tools and put them into action to support people to reach satisfaction and success? This workshop will explore how to implement skills and tools learned in rehabilitation and recovery training to make meaningful strides for both participants and practitioners.
- Thriving Despite Challenges: Overcoming Overwhelm and Workforce Issues
Britt Higgins, M.Ed., LMHC, Training Implementation Specialist, The Alliance for Rights and Recovery, formerly NYAPRS; Kirk Cooper-Johnson, LMSW, inUnity Alliance; Lisa Turnquist, BSW, Director of Ventures PROS at Rochester Rehabilitation
As we continue to come to terms with the untold effects of the pandemic on many facets of our lives, a larger issue emerges: How can we stay well at work as we grapple with the challenges that are posed by the traumas that come up? How do we come to know both our strengths and our needs and limitations?
In this workshop, we will define and discuss concepts that speak to your experience as a practitioner. You will hear firsthand accounts of overcoming such workforce challenges and engage in a brief exercise that supports you in taking an accurate and honest inventory of how you are doing, and how you can adjust your focus toward your strengths.
3:45-4:00 PM Break
4:00-5:00 PM General Session
Breaking Barriers: Confronting Social Injustice and Oppression
Moderated by Lenora Reid-Rose, MBA, Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives, Partnerships and Community Connectedness, CCSI; Dr. April Aycock, Ed.D., LMHC, Master-CASAC, Director of Monroe County Behavioral Health Services
Social injustice and oppression are issues that demand our attention. This session takes these issues head on, discussing what they are, how they show up, and what we need to do about them. Don’t miss this powerful and informative session.
5:00-6:00 PM AWARDS, NETWORKING, AND APPETIZERS
the presentation of the
First Annual Robert Myers Recovery and Rehabilitation Award
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2023
8:15-8:45 AM Registration and Continental Breakfast
Coffee Talk with OMH
8:45-9:00 AM Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:00-10:15 AM GENERAL SESSION
Using Psychiatric Rehabilitation to Support People to Transform Their Lives
Kathryn Murphy, LMHC, Program Director, St. Joseph’s Hospital PROS; Sarah Nelson, BS, CASAC, HCBS and CORE Program Coordinator, LifeDome Adult Services; Laura Best-Macia, NYCPS, Community Support Specialist, CORE Practitioner, Mental Health Association of Columbia-Greene County; Tara Larkin-Fredericks, LMSW, CORE Program Director, Association for Mental Health and Wellness; Moderator: Len Statham, COO, The Alliance for Rights and Recovery
The principles and practices of psychiatric rehabilitation have been proven to support people across the world to reach personally meaningful life goals by developing the critical skills and resources necessary to attain and maintain them. Although we all know that this is the focus of our work in PROS, CORE, and BH HCBS, The NY Psychiatric Rehabilitation Training Academy (NYPRTA) supports this work in a unique manner, offering a comprehensive program that draws on a variety of platforms, presentations and materials that have been developed by a broad array of state and national experts.
The panelists will provide concrete examples of how their organizations are transforming their practice and helping the people they support to transform their lives. Are people reaching for goals important to them? Are they learning the skills and gathering the resources to attain them? Are participants confident that they can maintain their goals? Join us as we share stories about outcomes as we integrate the learning from the NYPRTA into practice.
REGISTER NOW HERE!
10:15-10:30 Break
10:30-11:15 GENERAL SESSION
Ask OMH Anything
Stacey Hale, Director, Bureau of Rehabilitation, Treatment, and Care Coordination; Denise Balzer, Director, Bureau of Crisis, Emergency, and Stabilization Initiatives.
Shannon Buckley and Emily Masterson, Mental Health Program Specialist 2, Division of Managed Care, Policy Bureau; Jaimie Terelo and Mike Miller, Mental Health Program Specialist 2, Division of Managed Care; Amanda Saake, Chief Advocacy Officer, Office of Advocacy and Peer Support Services and Andy Sink, Director of NYESS Employment Policy, Division of Adult Community Care
Want to know about changes to regulations or upcoming initiatives? Do you have questions about how decisions are made at the Office of Mental Health? Want to know what their staff are really thinking? This is your chance to literally ask OMH anything! Submit questions ahead of time using the QR codes scattered throughout the conference space, or, come on up to the mic and ask in person during the session!
11:15-11:30 Break
11:30-12:30 WORKSHOPS ROUND THREE
- Skill Building Tangibly by Connecting Virtually
Christine Linkie, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy Program, Department of Rehabilitation, University of Buffalo
Making human connections and relationships are essential to the success of our work, but how do you connect when working with someone in a telehealth session? How do you support that person to build the skills that are important to them, rather than just talk through those skills? Join this interactive workshop where we will explore engagement strategies for online connection and teaching strategies for concrete skill development.
- Reconnecting, Revitalizing and Reintegrating In-Person Services
Trish Tuttle, LMHC, Program Director, Clarity Wellness Community PROS; Jeffrey Malone, LMHC, Program Director, Goodwill Harlem PROS
After being off-site and in a virtual world for nearly three years, practitioners and the people they support are both dealing with the anxiety and uncertainty of a return to a face-to-face approach. This workshop will share challenges with PROS participants returning to in-person services post-COVID as well as staffing barriers that have been experienced. Through the discussion, presenters will share strategies to encourage in-person participation. including creative and fun groups as well as program activities. The discussion will also provide an opportunity to discuss topics related to staffing, burnout, staff transition, and staff morale.
- Collaboration for Community Success: How Peer Support Services Collaborate with Rehabilitation Services
Steve Miccio, CEO, PeopleUSA; Shannon Higbee, CEO, Recovery Options Made Easy
While peer support and services are now widely recognized as an essential element of an engaging, effective and responsive service system, how many of the people served in rehabilitation programs and services are gaining access to them? This workshop will help attendees to appreciate the unique elements of peer services that meet fidelity standards and explore the various ways in which rehabilitation providers can connect participants to them in their community to form collaborations that optimize success.
REGISTER NOW HERE!