Offered in partnership with the New York Association for Psychiatric Rehabilitation (NYAPRS) and Humannovations.
While much progress has been made to develop a modern array of ‘crisis services’ including mobile crisis units, hospital diversion programs and ‘crisis call centers’ through and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Network, the integration of people with lived experience of suicide and crisis as peer support providers, though, has been slow to advance.
Peer support can and should play an active role at many points in the transformation of crisis response systems, including those driven by the national 988 line initiative. This presentation will address several questions:
- Where and how these get integrated is the key question.
- How can ‘crisis’ services connect with the empowerment foundations of peer support?
- How does peer support look and feel different at times of intensity?
- How can lived experience be meaningfully connected with when things like self-harm and suicide are present?
The presenter covers the array of these issues, while presenting key concepts for program and policy change, grounded in the values of dignity and recovery, to humanize the issues in the practical work of ‘peer crisis support.’
Speaker Information
Eduardo Vega is an internationally recognized thought leader in recovery-oriented programs and policy, consumer/patient rights, stigma reduction, and suicide prevention, whose work continues to drive the forefront of change for public health and mental health worldwide. He is founder and CEO of Humannovations, a consulting and training firm providing innovative solutions for mental health and suicide prevention internationally, fueled by social justice and the “lived experience” of people who have been there. Clients of Humannovations include the World Health Organization, Asana, the White House Office of Science & Technology, the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Movember Foundation, Suicide Prevention Australia, the International Bipolar Foundation, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Facebook and more.
A former Fulbright Specialist and California State Commissioner for Mental Health Services, Vega has led and served on multiple health policy bodies and as an invited expert to the Office of the White House of President Obama. He has presented and consulted on technical issues in behavioral health with stakeholder and consumer groups, private industry and government in the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Fiji and Latin America. He serves on the the Steering Committee of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the US National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.
For his transformative leadership Vega has been recognized by the United States Senate and the United States Surgeon General, the State of California, the nation of Fij. He holds an M.A. in Psychology from New School for Social Research.
