ONE DAY CONFERENCEADMISSION FREEJUNE 22, 2009

New York University Kimmel Center

60 Washington Square South • NYC

PEERSPECIALISTS IN NEW YORK CITY

A change we can believe in!

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Conference Overview

In our third annual conference, PeerSpecialists in New York City: A ChangeWe Can Believe In, we are highlightingthe accomplishments and sharing the

combined experience, knowledge andexpertise of people working as PeerSpecialists throughout New York City.The conference workshops all come fromyou, working peers, who have let us knowwhat is important in your work and yourlives. Learning from each other we willcontinue to change and transform themental health delivery system in New York City.

As Peer Specialists we embody the potentialfor recovery. Because we have been thereand done that we really understand thebarriers to success many of our peers face.We understand recovery because we arerecovering people. We understand wherethere are barriers because we have facedthem and overcome them. We are systemstransformers, we are motivational enhancers,and we are a change you can believe in.

Provider Intensive (see page 6)

This year we are pleased to be offering a“Provider Intensive.” We have selected anumber of workshops, designed by workingPeer Specialists, and others for the New YorkCity Mental Health Provider community.

Providing the best mental health servicesincludes hiring Peer Specialists andintegrating them into a service deliverysystem that uses interventions that areknown to be best practices for a person-centered recovery oriented system of care.

Please register for the Provider Intensive to:

• Learn how mental health providers havetransformed their program culture by hiringand integrating peer staff

• Learn how to use successful interventionsthat promote recovery

• Network with other providers who havesuccessfully integrated peer staff

• Meet the Directors of the Bureau ofConsumer Affairs for New York City andNew York State

• Learn about research that supports integratingPeer Specialists in the workplace

• Become a part of transforming the MentalHealth System in New York City

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Keynote Speaker

Dwayne MayesDirector, Howie the HarpPeer Advocacy Center, ADivision of CommunityAccess

Change Is the Only Evidence of Life

Dwayne Mayes has climbed from "thebottom of the totem pole" to achievetremendous success both personally andprofessionally and is absolute proof thatrecovery is real.

Currently the Director of the Howie T. HarpPeer Advocacy Center, Dwayne's previousexperience was with the John F. Kennedy,Jr. Institute for Worker Education for theCUNY Youth Transition DemonstrationProject. Dwayne was the Senior BenefitsAdvisor for the project and collaboratedwith the SSA Regional Office, NY DistrictOffice, local Bronx County Field Offices,and national and statewide agenciesinvolved in other benefits/work incentivesservices. Previously, he was a leader onthe team directing the Social SecurityAdministration’s New York WORKS researchproject.

Dwayne holds a bachelor's degree inSociology from CUNY’s Hunter College. Healso holds certifications from CornellUniversity’s School of Industrial and LaborRelations’ Program on Employment andDisability and from Cornell’s Employmentand Disability Institute’s Work Incentive andUtilization Series.

Dwayne was awarded one of the 2008Robin Hood Foundation’s Heroes Award.

Who Should Attend

This conference has been specificallydesigned for:

• Peer Specialists

• Peer Advocates

• Peer Bridgers

• Peer Counselors

• Peer Recovery Facilitators

Who should attend the Provider Intensive

• Executive Directors

• Program Directors

• Program Administrators

• Program Supervisors

Conference PlanningCommittee

• New York State Office of Mental Health-Bureau of Recipient Affairs

• New York City Department of Health andMental Hygiene Office of Consumer Affairs

• New York City Health and HospitalsCorporation Office of Behavioral Health

• The Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies:The Center for Rehabilitation and Recovery

• Howie the Harp Peer Advocacy Center

• The Mental Health Empowerment Project

• New York State Association of PsychiatricRehabilitation Services

• The Empowerment Center

• F.E.G.S Health and Human Services System

Conference LocationThis conference will be held at:

New York University – Kimmel Center60 Washington Square SouthNew York, NY 10012

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Program Agenda

8:30-9:15 AM• Registration and

Continental Breakfast

9:15-9:45 AM• Welcomes

• Gerald Landsberg, Ph.D.Professor, Director, Institute Against Violence,NYU Silver School of Social Work

• Paolo del Vecchio, M.S.W.Associate Director Consumer Affairs Office of theDirector at the Federal Center for Mental HealthServices (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse andMental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA)in the U.S. Department of Health and HumanServices.

• Anita Appel, LCSWDirector of the New York City Field Office,New York State Office of Mental Health

• John AllenSpecial Assistant to the Commissionerof Mental Health, New York State Officeof Mental Health

• Celia BrownRegional Advocacy Specialist, Bureau ofRecipient Affairs NYS Office of Mental Health,New York City Field Office

• Jody SilverDirector of the Office of Consumer AffairsNew York City Department of Healthand Mental Hygiene

9:45-10:15 AM• Keynote: Change Is the Only Evidence

of Life• Dwayne Mayes

Director, Howie the Harp Peer AdvocacyCenter, A Division of Community Access

10:15-10:45 AM• Break and Time to Visit Resource Tables

10:45-12:15 PM• Morning Workshops

12:15-1:45 PM• Lunch and Time to Visit Resource Tables

2:00-3:30 PM• Afternoon Workshops

3:30-4:30 PM• Reception at the Silver School of Social Work

Morning Workshops

Overcoming Stigma• Herminio Maldonado, CTI Specialist, Project Connect

The effects of stigma and discrimination against peopleliving with mental illness are profound and long lasting.This session will explore cultural stigma and teach wayspeers can cope with the effects of stigma through advocacy,education and peer-to-peer support.

System Transformation throughSystem Advocacy• Kathryn Cascio, CPRP, Advocate of Federation Organizations

• Adam Axinn, Supervisor of POWER Program, Federation ofOrganizations

Survivors of the mental health system have historically beenmarginalized and cast aside. We constantly need to work tochange this reality. In this interactive workshop participantswill learn advocacy skills to help make change in the servicedelivery system through policy and legislative changes.

Different Ways to Recover • Greg Hicks, Peer Specialist, Kingsboro Psychiatric Center

• Angelica Simpkins, Peer Specialist, Kingsboro Psychiatric Center

• Leonard Wright, Peer Specialist, Kingsboro Psychiatric Center

Everyone’s road to recovery is different. Presenters will sharetheir own stories and participants will learn how peer specialistshave helped improve care and empower consumers in theNYS Office of Mental Health system. Participants will alsolearn the importance of employment in recovery.

Consumer Delivered Wellness Programs:Four Models that are Working• Sue Bergeson, Vice President Consumer Affairs,

OptumHealth Behavioral Solutions, San Diego, CA

This session examines four successful programs created by,delivered by and used by consumers. In response to therecent reports on our 25 year mortality gap, consumers ofmental health services are creating peer to peer wellnessprograms to build hope as we successfully achieve ourwellness goals.

I Feel Your Pain: The Practical Applicationof Personal Experience• Robert Memory, Peer Specialist, F.E.G.S Health and Human

Services System, Manhattan CDT

• Pauline Prin, Peer Specialist, F.E.G.S Health and HumanServices System, Project COPE, IPRT

How two very different peer specialists have made theirroles indispensible in the delivery of services. Using varioustechniques, this workshop will look at different strategiesfor changing the culture of a program, the use of self,boundaries and resources.

Peer Specialists in New York City: A Change You Can Believe In Program Agenda • Workshops• Monday June 22, 2009

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Morning Workshops cont’d

Where Image and Reality Meet:Being a Model of Work-Life Balance• Sharon M. Cadiz, Ed.D., 747 Seminars

This experiential workshop will give participants anopportunity to understand how they can support theirindividual and collective sense of work-life balancethrough better sleep; nutrition; exercise; reflection;positive thinking, creativity, spiritual connection, and avision of personal and professional growth. Excerpts fromRules for Take-Off: A simple Guide to a Happy Lifeand a Journey to New Heights will be used to highlightnew ways of thinking about work and daily living.

You Can Meet Any Work Challengewith Proactive Ammunition• Sandra Mitchell, Peer Specialist - Kingsboro Psychiatric Center

Being in recovery is a daily challenge. Every morning youmust do a “system check” to make sure all circuits are readyand able to meet the day’s challenges. Learn to becomean efficient manager of your personal and professionaltime. This workshop will use real life scenarios to teachhow to get along with difficult people in the workplace,overcoming stigma and time managment on and offthe job.

Addressing Cultural Differences: HowCan We Better Understand One Another?• Heriberto Gonzalez, MSW, Peer Specialist

South Bronx Mental Health Inc.

• Sylvia Gadsden, Peer Specialist South Bronx Mental Health Inc.

• Angelica Feliz, Peer Specialist South Bronx Mental Health Inc.

• Anthony Williams Sr., Peer SpecialistSouth Bronx Mental Health Inc.

Awareness of one’s own attitudes, values, and beliefsabout cultural differences and a willingness to acknowledgethese differences are critical factors for Peer Specialistsworking with diverse populations. The Peer Specialist isresponsible for addressing issues of diversity withconsumers and is also ethically responsible for being aculturally competent educator by obtaining the appropriateknowledge, skills, and experience.

Paving New Ground

• Gayle Bluebrid, RN, Peer Network Coordinator,OTA Peer Networking/NASMHPD, Gainsville, Florida

Learn about the various peer provider roles in in-patientsettings including advocates, counselors, educators andevaluators. Workshop participants will learn how to workas a team member in clinical settings, to network andshare information with other peer providers and explorecreative strategies for providing peer support and diffusingconflict. The video “Paving Ground: a dialogue with peers,family members, providers and advocates” will be shown.

Afternoon Workshops

Peer Parent Mentorship Program• DK Calkins, Chief of Operations, Dreamweavers Peer Support, Inc.• Lester Cook, Executive Director, Dreamweavers Peer Support, Inc.

This workshop examines parents who have a psychiatricdiagnosis from a strength perspective and provides informationon support networks, and offers an understand on the lawregarding the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1996 andlocal laws regarding mental health and custody. Workshopparticipants will learn how to create a comprehensiveWellness Action Recovery Plan for parents who have apsychiatric diagnosis and their children.

Support We Can Believe In:Peer Employment Support Group• Karen P. Burke, MS, CPRP

Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey

• Francine M. Bates, MS, LPC,CRCP, Assistant Professor andEmployment Consultant Integrated Employment InstituteDept. of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and CounselingProfessions, University of Medicine and Dentistry of NewJersey

• Betty S. Redman, LPN, CPRP, Learning Recovery CenterWildwood New Jersey Collaborative Support Programsof New Jersey

Learn about a two-pronged approach to providing peersupport and employment services that is beingsuccessfully used in New Jersey Self-Help Centers.

New Opportunities Emerging inManaged Care for Peer Specialists • Sue Bergeson, Vice President Consumer Affairs,

OptumHealth Behavioral Solutions

Managed care companies are hiring Peer Specialists!Presenting an overview of these new positions, outlinequalifications and required experience and help peopleidentify ways to locate new job opportunities within largeand complicated systems.

Principles to Practice: Advocacy StandardsSupporting Peers as Professionals • Sharon Hoffman, New York State Disabilities Advocacy

Association and Network (NYS DAAN) Rochester, NY• Rita Cronise, Rochester Association of Peer Specialists –

a local chapter of the National Association of Peer Specialists

This interactive workshop will provide training on twelveuniversal Advocacy Principles with quality indicatorstandards of practice. We would like to encourage theuse of statewide advocacy values, ethics, language andperformance measures which will support a commonplatform on which to build successful outcomes fromrecovery-oriented organizations.

Peer Specialists in New York City: A Change You Can Believe In Workshops

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Afternoon Workshops cont’d

Peer Facilitated Practicesthat Enhance Recovery• Jerome Marzan, CASAC, Pathways to Housing

• James Fatal, Peer Wellness Specialist, Pathways to Housing

• Ali Matos, Peer Specialist, Pathways to Housing

This workshop will highlight the important role of peers insupporting the recovery process with others. The sessionwill expose participants to new practices and techniquesthat peers specialists can use in their work such as theSAMHSA Anger Management and the OMH WellnessSelf-Management Curriculums.

WRAP Based Work and WellnessDiscussion Forums• Charles H. Wuth, Mental Health Association of New Jersey

• Lydia Doshier, Mental Health Association of New Jersey

Working in the mental health and co-occurring disordersfield can be stressful and lead to compassion fatigue orburn out. Participants will learn how to start and facilitateWork and Wellness Forums which will benefit workingpeers and help them stay on the job.

Peer Specialists Navigating WorkplaceChallenges while Promoting Recovery• Rudy De La Haya, Assistant Director of Training for the

Center for Urban Community Services, (CUCS)

• Maurice Van Dross, Peer Specialist, F.E.G.S Health

& Human Services System, Riverdale Manor

• Doris Robinson Peer Specialist, F.E.G.S Health & Human

Services System, Riverdale Manor

• Katrina Watson, Peer Specialist, F.E.G.S Health & Human

Services System, Riverdale Manor

This workshop is designed to look at the efficacy of peerspecialist in promoting wellness and recovery andimproving outcomes of mental health recipients. A panelof peer specialists will share their personal experiences.

The Peer Professional - Understandingthe Recovery-Oriented, Evidenced-BasedPractices in Mental Health

• Keysha Brown, Peer Advocacy Program Coordinator,Rochester Psychiatric Center

• Susan Sotack, Peer Advocacy Coordinator,Rochester Psychiatric Center

It is clear from The President’s New Freedom Commissionon Mental Health report that Peer Support should be anintegral part of the Mental Health System’s transformation.In this workshop Peers will gain the resources and toolsthat will help them acquire and use the latest evidencebased practices as well as other recovery oriented practicesthat will benefit them and the consumers they serve.

Women with Positive Voices• Janice Jones, Division Director, Kingsboro Bridger Program,

Baltic Street A.E.H.

• Sheila Love, Program Director, South Beach Bridger Program

• Mattie King, Division Director, Staten Island Peer AdvocacyCenter, Baltic Street Board A.E.H

• Digna Quinones, Regional Advocacy Specialist, Bureau ofRecipient Affairs, NYC Field Office NYS Office of Mental Health

In this interactive workshop we use a positive approach tohelp individuals identify how to enhance overall wellness.Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Health are all part ofRecovery. We will share our experiences and strategies,both in and out of the system, and talk about usingimagination and vision to value our recovery andwellness. We also will support participants in developinga train-the-trainer model of Recovery and Wellness.

Provider Intensive WorkshopsMorning Workshops

Innovations and Culture Change In ALarge Municipal Hospital System

• Jonathan Edwards, LMSW, Assistant Director ConsumerAffairs, NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation, Office ofBehavioral Health

• Marylee Burns, M.Ed., M.A., LMHC, CRC Senior Director,Mental Health Services, NYC Health and HospitalsCorporation Office of Behavioral Health

Learn about the process of culture change that the NYCHealth and Hospitals Corporation undertook to prepare forand support over 30 peer counselors throughout theirextensive system of care.

Finding Balance through YourOwn Breath and Movement • Jenna Ritter, Certified Yoga Instructor, Dhara

Learn how breathing and yoga techniques can be usedto manage health and wellness in behavioral healthprograms. The techniques can aid in treatment andrehabilitation as well as team building and care forthe caregiver.

Peer Specialists in New York City: A Change You Can Believe In Provider Intensive Workshops

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Morning Workshops cont’d

Wellness Recovery Action Plan • Sara Goodman, CPRP Coordinator of Training,

Howie the Harp Peer Advocacy Center

The Wellness Recovery Action Plan is a system formonitoring, reducing and eliminating uncomfortable ordangerous physical symptoms and emotional feelings.The goals of WRAP are to teach consumers of mentalhealth services recovery and self-management skills andstrategies for dealing with mental health difficulties thatallow them to:

• Achieve higher levels of wellness, stabilityand quality of life

• Decrease the need for costly, invasive therapies • Decrease traumatic life events caused by severe

mental health difficulties • Increase understanding of these mental health

difficulties and decrease stigma • Raise participants' level of hope and encourages

their actively working toward wellness • Increase participants' sense of personal

responsibility and empowerment

During this workshop we will explore the variouscomponents of WRAP and discuss how to introduceit to your program participants.

Afternoon Workshops

Leading the Way to Recovery:Promoting Peer Integration in theWorkplace• Pat Feinberg, M.S. Co-Trainer

Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies

• Gloria Goodson, CTI Specialist, Project Connect

• Seth Margolies, CPRP, Senior Peer SpecialistEmpower Program Institute for Community Living (ICL)

• Sandra Mitchell, Peer SpecialistKingsboro Psychiatric Center

• Marie Sabatino, Training SpecialistCoalition of Behavioral Health Agencies

Encouraged by the President’s New Freedom Commission’srecommendation to “involve consumers and families fullyin orienting the mental health system toward recovery,”many mental health programs are integrating peerproviders into the staff of mental health agencies. Despitethe increasing shift toward a recovery-oriented perspective,there are often challenges applying and synthesizing theprinciples of recovery into practice. Hear how peerproviders are taking action to advance recovery in themental health workplace by: infusing personal strengthsand passions, creating strategies to deal with workplacechallenges, inspiring changes that are recovery-focused,and building careers that are more meaningful.

The Role of Mutual Support in CareerPlanning & Job Retention • Lauren B. Gates Ph.D., Sr. Research Scientist, Workplace

Center at Columbia University School of Social Work

• James Mandiberg, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Social Work,Columbia University

Many peer staff find that their success on the job and theircareer development is enhanced by a supportive networkof others with similar experiences. When mutual supportis not available on the job or through direct contact withother peer staff, an internet-mediated community canfacilitate this support. This workshop will present lessonslearned from an internet based peer provider communityabout the role of mutual support in the peer providers'own recovery and challenges in helping to build such acommunity on line.

The Use of Peer Specialists in CulturallyCompetent Mental Health TreatmentTeams• Denise E. Reed, MBA, MPH New York State Psychiatric

Institute Center of Excellence for Cultural Competence

• Yvette Perdomo, CTI Specialist, Project Connect

• Sam Tsemberis, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Director,Pathways to Housing, Inc.

• Hunter L. McQuistion, MD, Director, Division of Outpatient& Community psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry &Behavioral Health, St. Luke’s & Roosevelt Hospitals

Providers and Peer Specialists from three New York Cityprograms, that have effectively integrated peer staff, willdiscuss the relevance of cultural competence in treatmentand how to provide culturally relevant care.

Peer Specialists in New York City: A Change You Can Believe In Provider Intensive Workshops

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Registration Form (PLEASE PRINT. Mail or fax completed registration form to the address listed above.)

Name:Check One

Title: Organization:

Phone-Work: ( ) FAX: ( ) E-Mail:

Mailing Address:

City: State: Zip:

Conference Registration

How toTo register for this full day conference you may registeronline, by mail or fax.• Register online at: www.coalitionny.org/the_center

• Register by mail to:The New York State Office of Mental HealthAttn: Carmelita Thompson330 Fifth Avenue, 9th fl., New York, NY 10001

• Register by fax: 212-330-6359

LocationThis conference will be held at New York UniversityKimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South,New York, NY 10012

For QuestionsIf you have any questions, please call Celia Brownat 212-330-6352

CancellationTo cancel, please e-mail at: cocbcet@omh.state.ny.usso others may attend. We will maintain a waiting list.

AccommodationsThe Kimmel Center is wheelchair accessible.

LunchLunch is provided at no cost to all participants.

TransportationBy Subway

• Take the Lexington Avenue subway (No. 6 train) to AstorPlace Station. Go west on Astor Place to Broadway. Walksouth on Broadway to Waverly Place. Walk westward onWaverly Place until you reach Washington Square.

• Take the Broadway subway (N, R or W train) to EighthStreet Station. At Broadway walk south to Waverly Place.Walk westward on Waverly Place until you reachWashington Square. * The N runs late at night and weekends.The R does not run late at night.

• Take the Sixth Avenue subway to West Fourth Street-Washington Square Station (A, C, E, B, D, F, or V train).Walk east on West Fourth Street until you reachWashington Square. * The A and C don't run late at night,the E, F and V run from 6 a.m. to midnight, the B runsweekdays from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and the D runs at night.

• Take the Seventh Avenue subway to Christopher Street-Sheridan Square Station (1, 9 or 2). Walk east onChristopher Street to West Fourth Street. Continue east toWashington Square.* The 1 and 9 are rush hour only,and the 2 train runs late at night.

Dates to Remember:June 16th Final Day for Registration

June 22th Conference

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Mail Registration or Fax:New York State Office of Mental HealthAttn: Carmelita Thompson330 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10001Online: www.coalitionny.org/the_centerTEL. 212-330-6352 FAX: 212-330-6359

PEERSPECIALISTS IN NEW YORK CITY

A change we can believe in!

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