This workshop will explore the connected experiences of: burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma. A focus will be on helping identify paths of resiliency to help peers continue both in their own recovery and in the helping field.
Presenter(s): Kristin Waite-Labott, RN and Dr. Heidi Paquette
The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified issues in nursing leading to the need to develop and improve policies and procedures surrounding nurse wellbeing in the workplace. Two significant issues are the current staffing shortages seen throughout the country and the increase in nurse mental health crises. Wisconsin Peer Alliance for Nurses (WisPAN) is working with the Wisconsin Nurses Association (WNA) to create a nurse wellbeing peer support program to address these needs.
- Gain an understanding of stressors in nursing today.
- Learn the benefits of peer support.
- Identify and practice the steps to facilitating and participating in a peer support group.
Presenter(s): Lynn McLaughlin, Owner/Member of Ebb & Flow Connections Cooperative, & Karen
Iverson Riggers, Owner/Member of Ebb & Flow Connections Cooperative
In this workshop, participants will learn how connection can be used as a prevention strategy in suicide prevention, mental health, substance use and wellness programs, and the importance of emotions in creating authentic, healthy connection. Participants will be introduced to the Community Living Room - a community-based, non-clinical support model in the Fox Valley whose only desired outcome is connection.
- Understand why social isolation and loneliness has become a public health crisis
- Understand how connection is formed and the vital role that emotions play in creating connection
- Utilize the principles of connection in deepening our connection with ourselves and others
Presenter(s): Deb Mejchar, CPS, Heleema Berg, CPS, CPPS, Allyson Eparvier, Psychological Associate, Dodge Correctional Institution and Co-Director of the CPS Program for all adult institutions within the DOC, Tracy Johnson, CPS and Licensed Psychologist, Co-Director for the CPS Program in the Wisconsin DOC, Mike Koenigs, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. & Dan Grupe, Research Assistant Professor at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
The Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) program within the State of Wisconsin Department of Corrections prison facilities has been growing rapidly since its inception 2017, with about 240 CPSs now living and working in 16 prisons across the state. In this session, we will provide an overview of this program and its demonstrated benefits for peers receiving services and offering services. We will discuss the unique challenges faced by CPSs currently experiencing incarceration, and our team's efforts to support CPS wellbeing and professional development as they offer support to their incarcerated peers.
Wisconsin state prisons represent one of the most critical environments for offering peer support in the state, due to the combination of extremely high rates of substance use/mental health concerns, a shortage of mental health providers, and limitations in therapeutic alliance between prison residents and DOC staff. The introduction and rapid expansion of the CPS program over the past 7 years presents an opportunity for a paradigm shift in mental health care and support within prisons, but has also come with unique challenges. These opportunities and challenges will be shared with attendees by a panel of presenters who bring a unique combination of lived expertise (two formerly incarcerated Certified Peer Specialists who have returned to prisons to support currently incarcerated CPSs), policymakers (two DOC psychologists who co-direct the CPS program) and academic expertise (two UW-Madison researchers whose research focuses on the mental health of individuals during and after incarceration). We will first provide an overview of the CPS program in Wisconsin state prisons, describing both first-hand experiences of program benefits as well as quantitative program evaluation data on benefits for individuals receiving services as well as broader institutional climate. We will discuss some of the challenges faced by incarcerated CPSs, including high caseloads, vicarious trauma responses, and limitations on institutional resources and support. In response to these challenges, one of our presenters introduced a "CPS book club" to support CPS wellbeing and professional development. We will describe how this book club has spread via word-of-mouth to at least 6 institutions across the state, and discuss the impact of the book club for incarcerated CPSs. Finally, we will introduce a new research initiative to provide comprehensive data on the impact of this program that will hopefully lead to increased impact and further expansion of CPS services within the state of Wisconsin and beyond.
- Learn about the CPS program in prisons, its benefits for peers offering and receiving support, and its impact on institutional climate.
- Understand the unique challenges and stressors faced by peers offering services within prisons.
- Consider what additional supports and resources may be helpful for CPSs working in prisons.
Presenter(s): Natalie Morescki, Founder and Executive Director of Next Steps for Change, Inc., & Shane Sherburn, CPS, Outreach Coordinator/Peer with Next Steps for Change, Recovery Coach
One of the challenges of people being in Recovery Courts (OWI and Drug) is that they have a lot of support from professionals, but those professionals can’t be the ones to help them to build friendships in recovery or attend meetings - by literally walking alongside them. That is one of the reasons there are challenges for participants within Recovery Courts. Integrating Peer Support into Recovery Courts has been one of the largest successes our Recovery Courts have seen. We will talk about how our Peer Support model is run as an independent non-profit; funding we utilize to allow for Peer Support in Recovery Courts and how this sets us apart from other Recovery Community Organizations. We will also share some techniques we have found to be beneficial with Peer Support and elaborate on the barriers of working with Treatment Courts and strategies used to get better results.
- Participants will be able to identify techniques beneficial for working with Peer Support.
- Participants will be able to identify strategies for working with recovery courts.
- Participants will understand how Peer Support can be run through a non-profit that acts as a "hub" for Peer Support.
Presenter: Jensen Bosio, Program Manager Uplift WI & Maddison Wagner, Certified Peer Specialist, Program Coordinator for the PRISM Program
Uplift WI is a peer support program offered through Mental Health America of Wisconsin and is the first Statewide Peer Run Warmline for residents throughout the state. This presentation will elaborate on how Uplift WI was brought to fruition, and how its philosophy surrounding informed consent-based peer support can inspire other programs.
- Participants will understand the need for an anonymous, confidential peer support service.
- Participants will learn about the nuances between peer support in non-consensual and consensual settings.
- Participants will learn tips on how to provide informed consent-based support.