CASRA 2021 Spring Virtual Conference
Event Program
May 04, 2021
| Title | Speaker | Description | Goals | CEU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The CASRA Story: 50 Years in the Making |
Betty Dahlquist, MSW CPRP, Executive Director, California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies, Martinez, CA. |
Through the past 50 years, and continuing to this day, CASRA and its member agencies are pioneers and trail-blazers for new models of services, advocating for social, economic and political justice for Californians who turn to the public mental health system for help. Join Chad Costello, Director of Public Policy for CASRA as he interviews Betty Dahlquist about her perspective on the evolution of the recovery movement in California through her CASRA lens and personal experience. And in doing so, see how she challenges the myths which surround the deinstitutionalization movement and its role, or lack thereof, in creating the current crises of incarceration, homeless and economic inequality. (Please be advised there are no CEU's for this session.) |
Participants will learn about the history of the psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery movement from the lens of CASRA's Executive Director, Betty Dahlquist. |
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The Recovery Journey through Medical Necessity |
Maria Gregg, LCSW, Therapist. Amanda Vierra, LAADC, Health and Wellness Manager, Trainer and Consultant. Handout(s): |
This workshop will assist practitioners in how to document medical necessity in a non-stigmatizing way as they serve individuals with persistent, chronic mental illness. Practitioners will view documentation as an extension of care and a tool to inform how to best engage individuals in their recovery journey. |
The Recovery Journey through Medical Necessity training supports the collaboration of documentation and good clinical care and services. It taps into years of outcomes research supporting the clinical relationship driving positive client outcomes. Current practice reinforces a “myth” of specific language needing to be in our documentation, which is often negative about the client’s experience and can impact their recovery. This training intends to address the myth of “Medi-Cal Language” and help trainees simplify their documentation, while also meeting the real requirements. This workshop will assist practitioners in how to document medical necessity in a non-stigmatizing way as they serve individuals who have serious mental health challenges. Practitioners will view documentation as an extension of care and a tool to inform how to best engage individuals in their recovery journey.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
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May 06, 2021
| Title | Speaker | Description | Goals | CEU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Understanding Loneliness & Social Isolation: Impacts on People and Society at Large in a Connected World |
Robert Statham, BS, Training & Technical Assistance Facilitator, NYAPRS. Handout(s): |
As understanding of the Social Determinants of Health and Mental Health builds, it becomes critical to focus our attention on how health and mental health is largely influenced by social factors. While having meaningful relationships is vital to human beings’ ability to thrive, emerging data is uncovering an epidemic of loneliness throughout society. As awareness around social isolation and loneliness increases, we are learning about the impacts on society at large as well as individuals with behavioral health issues. To address this issue and assist people on their recovery journey, we must begin examining the multitude of impacts of loneliness in order to help people develop meaningful connections that heal. |
This training will direct participants attention on how physical health and mental health is largely influenced by social factors. Each participant will learn how the epidemic of loneliness & social isolation affects people with mental health challenges and learn strategies and techniques to assist people with mental health challenges build positive relationships with others.
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Trauma and PTSD in People Diagnosed with Serious Mental Health Issues |
Kim T. Mueser, PhD, Researcher, Boston University. Handout(s):
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This workshop will begin with definitions of “trauma” and “posttraumatic stress disorder” (PTSD), followed by a review of the prevalence of traumatic events and PTSD in people who have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness. Clinical approaches to the treatment of PTSD in people with SMI will next be described, with the primary emphasis on cognitive behavioral therapy, followed by research on the effectiveness of intervention. The psychologically traumatic effects of psychotic symptoms and treatment experiences (e.g., involuntary hospitalization) will then be addressed, as well as research documenting PTSD symptoms secondary to those experiences. Last, treatment methods targeting PTSD secondary to psychotic symptoms and treatment experiences will be detailed. |
The goals of this workshop are to improve clinician’s ability to recognize and assess traumatic experiences and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in persons with serious mental illness, including traumatic reactions to psychotic symptoms and treatment experiences, and to improve their knowledge of effective treatment approaches to PTSD in this population.
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The Thinking Skills for Work: Cognitive Enhancement for Successful Employment |
Susan McGurk, PhD, Professor, OT and Psychological and Brain Sciences. Handout(s): |
The Thinking Skills for Work program combines computerized practice of cognitive skills and cognitive self-management strategies to help people diagnosed with serious mental health issues to enhance their thinking skills and use them to their full advantage in getting and keeping work. In this presentation , Dr. McGurk will provide a brief overview of the components of this program, evidence supporting its beneficial effects on cognition and work, and clinical vignettes illustrating particular strategies, and participant experiences in the program. |
Participants will learn about Thinking Skills for Work, a multicomponent cognitive enhancement program designed to optimize work functioning in people with serious mental illnesses
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May 12, 2021
| Title | Speaker | Description | Goals | CEU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
I Was There, So Are You |
Harvey Rosenthal, Chief Executive Officer, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services. |
Harvey’s story reflects the past 40 years when the Recovery, Rehabilitation and Rights movements took hold in public mental health. Join us as Harvey describes the journey and encourages people to look at where they are now and where we can move ahead. |
Participants will experience the history of the key ideas, people and legislation that has shaped the Rehabilitation and Recovery Movements. |
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A Rebellious Guide to Psychosis |
Mark Ragins, MD, Psychiatrist, CSU Long Beach, Trainer and Consultant. Handout(s): |
For too long, our approach to ongoing psychosis is to describe it as hopeless, incomprehensible, unrelatable, and frightening. We need to rebel against these perspectives to appreciate psychosis as a relatively common response when someone has serious difficulty in all three dimensions of a “psychosis triangle”: experiencing reality, self-identity, and relationships. Many “strange facts” about psychosis make sense when we take off our narrow-minded blinders and look at all three interacting dimensions in someone’s life. Using a truly person-centered biopsychosocial approach, instead of an illness-centered approach, we can understand the journeys people are going through, we can relate to them and travel with them, we can make collaborative recovery plans (often including using medications more effectively), we can avoid chronicity and disability, and it’s likely we can even prevent a good deal of psychosis from emerging in the first place. We’ve had enough expensive focus on brain scans and genetics. Let’s really listen to people and let our experiences together guide us. |
Participants will be disabused of four common barriers to working with recovery with psychosis and be open to a comprehensive, holistic, model of psychosis that encompasses a variety of hopeful, effective services and supports.
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From Hardship to Hope: Strategies to Foster Financial Wellness in Times of Uncertainty |
Oscar Jimenez-Solomon, MPH, Research Scientist, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University. Handout(s): |
The COVID pandemic has triggered unprecedented levels of uncertainty, economic insecurity, and social isolation. Unemployment, job insecurity, inability to meet basic needs, difficulties repaying debts, and financial hopelessness, are some of the ways that financial hardship has impacted many. Communities facing greater disadvantages prior to the pandemic, such as low-income individuals, communities of color, and people with mental health diagnoses, have been hardest hit. It is more important than ever for the public mental health system to support people in recovery to pursue employment and overall financial wellness. This presentation will offer concrete strategies and tools that mental health and employment providers can employ to engage individuals in a financial empowerment process, develop a Financial Wellness Action Plan, support them to navigate and utilize existing financial wellness supports available to Californians (e.g., free and certified financial counseling, tax preparation assistance), and above all, foster financial hope. |
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