Decentralizing Clinician Authority: Insights into the Working Relationships of Peer-Clinician Treatment Teams

The inclusion of people with lived experience on clinical teams comes with a variety of challenges. Working together, peer specialists and clinicians are often required to reevaluate their training, question their roles, and... [ view full abstract ]

The inclusion of people with lived experience on clinical teams comes with a variety of challenges. Working together, peer specialists and clinicians are often required to reevaluate their training, question their roles, and redistribute power. This workshop will explore the ways in which peer specialists and clinicians can collaborate effectively, navigate difficult power dynamics, and provide treatment and support that models therapeutic listening, curiosity, and respect for all forms of knowledge. The workshop facilitators will be psychiatrists, therapists, and peer specialists, who currently work for the Parachute mobile program, a grant-funded program which provides peer supported, dialogic therapy in New York City.  

By the end of the workshop, participants will:

1. have a deeper understanding of how the voices of people with lived experience may impact clinical culture;
2. be able to address some of the challenges frequently faced by peer specialists and clinicians working on integrated teams;
3. be able to recognize the value of collaboration and apply it to their clinical practice.