Annual Conference

The American Psychiatric Association and SMI Adviser were proud to present The Third National Conference on Advancing Early Psychosis Care in the United States: Addressing Inequities - Race, Culture, and COVID. This FREE virtual conference was held on November 12-13, 2020. 

• 20 sessions in four concurrent tracks designed for the entire interprofessional mental health care team.

• Sessions that were certified for CME, psychology CE, and social work CE. Earn up to 8 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™, 1.0 CE credits for psychology per eligible session, and 1.0 CE credits for social work per eligible session.

• Featured faculty included Maxie L. Gordon, MD; Mario Alvarez-Jimenez, PhD, D.Clin.Psy; Jessica Monahan Pollard, PhD; Dost Öngür, MD, PhD; and many more.

This virtual event was funded by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, with expert consultation from the Psychosis-Risk and Early Psychosis Program Network (PEPPNET) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

Recordings from this conference can be found at https://smiadviser.org/fep-session

The Second National Conference on Advancing Early Psychosis Care in the United States: The Complexities of Real-World Care, was held in New York City on October 2nd, 2019. PEPPNET (Psychosis-Risk and Early Psychosis Program Network), in partnership with The American Psychiatric Association (APA), The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Advisor, brought together mental health clinicians, policymakers, and those with lived experienced in recovery for a day of speakers and panel presentations focused on the care and treatment of individuals who are either at clinical high risk for psychosis, or in the early stages, or first episode of psychosis.

As a pre-conference to the IPS Mental Health Services Conference (October 3rd -6th) this one-day conference addressed topics such as challenges and opportunities in delivering coordinated specialty care (CSC), best practices in delivering culturally competent CSC, the relationship between cannabis use and first episode psychosis, and strategies for financing first episode psychosis care. Participants will also learn about challenges and successes in delivering programs for individuals who are at clinical high risk for psychosis, and more.

We were delighted to have as our conference keynote speakers Lisa Dixon, M.D., Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, who spoke on moving early psychosis intervention from research to on-the-ground community practice, and Dost Ongur, M.D., from Harvard Medical School, who spoke on first episode affective psychosis.

Sunday, October 7, 2018
The Westin Copley Place
Boston, MA

Evidence-based treatment programs for first episode psychosis (FEP) have increased 20-fold since 2008, with over 200 Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) teams operating in 49 states.

A one-day educational conference to coincide with the 11th International Conference on Early Intervention in Mental Health. We will draw together national experts in CSC implementation along with clinicians from newly established community programs.

The agenda will focus on issues related to sustaining evidence-based CSC, including fidelity monitoring and feedback, measurement-based treatment, strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration, achieving rapid and enduring client engagement, and employing shared decision-making principles.