Sponsoring the 2024 Virtual ConferenceIn the true spirit of Psych Rehab PAPRS continues learning and adapting! The 2024 virtual conference is titled Psychiatric Rehabilitation: Basics & Beyond. To achieve our vision, we have updated our training to capitalize on virtual adult learning needs. While some regulations have been suspended due to the pandemic, organizations have continued to look for educational and growth opportunities for their staff. To continue to meet that demand we need your help! We are looking to you, our dedicated champions of recovery services, to help us continue to provide excellent, cutting-edge educational opportunities. You can do that by sponsoring our annual conference. Access the 2024 Virtual Conference Sponsorship form here. Conference attendees benefit from your sponsorship because it allows us to offer state-of-the-art educational training as well as the opportunity to learn more about YOU, our partners, and the services that you have to offer. We hope that if you have sponsored in the past you will again see this as a valuable opportunity. If you have never sponsored with us, please consider it! PAPRS Sponsor Benefits for 2024All Sponsors will receive the following benefits:
Gold Sponsorship - $2,500
If you have any questions, please contact Jen McLaughlin, Conference Co-Chair at [email protected] or by phone at 570-286-0111 x 30024.Please help us to promote our 2024 virtual conference: Psychiatric Rehabilitation: Basics and Beyond - April 11, 12, 18 & 19, 2024. We are offering an incredible array of Keynote Speakers and workshops! This year some of our experts include:  Gina Calhoun is an Advanced Level Wellness Facilitator who provides training and technical assistance with the Copeland Center. She is a wife, sister, friend, fitness enthusiast, and a person with mental health challenges. She has over 30 years of experience in mental health services, first as a participant and now as a peer professional. When Gina is not promoting wellness and recovery, she enjoys adult gymnastics and spending time with her large dynamic family. Gina won the Timothy J. Coakley National Behavioral Health Leadership Award. This award honors peer and family leaders in the behavioral health field whose work is characterized by the highest degree of integrity and a passion for creative approaches to improving the lives of persons living with mental health challenges, especially in the public sector.  Matthew Federici is the Executive Director of the Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery. Matthew specializes in training to create recovery-oriented systems and advance the peer support workforce including the implementation of the evidence-based practice of co-facilitated Wellness Recovery Action Plan®. Matthew is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, and consultant on recovery, wellness, community inclusion, and peer support. He came to the Copeland Center in 2010 from the Institute for Recovery & Community Integration where he served as Program Director to create systems transformation through the implementation of a certified peer specialist training program. In addition to his role as executive director of the Copeland Center, Matthew developed and oversees the Doors to Wellbeing Program, a National Consumer Training and Technical Assistance Center. Matthew has served on the board of directors for the International Association of Peer Support and the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery. In 2007 Matthew and colleagues published Training, Employment, and Work Satisfaction Outcomes Associated with the Pennsylvania Certified Peer Specialist Initiative, in the Psychiatric Rehabilitation spring journal. Matthew's has provided keynote presentations, training programs, and webinars on recovery, community inclusion, and peer support in over 45 different states in the US as well as in Japan, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands. Matthew’s personal and professional journey in wellness and recovery includes involvement as a family member and a mental health consumer advocate for over 23 years. He is a Certified Advanced Level WRAP Facilitator. Professionally he has experience in facilitating group therapy sessions, resource management for people entering independent housing; supervising community rehabilitation residents, and implementing supported employment and education programs. He has also been involved in promoting Psychiatric Advance Directives through local, state, and national consumer and provider conferences and is a Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner. He received his B.A. from Alvernia University in Psychology and Communications and his M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Rutgers University (UMDNJ). He was awarded the Distinguished Advocate Award from the PAPRS in 2002 and the Exemplary Practice Award in 2007 from the Mental Health Association of Southeastern PA Board of Directors.
 Michael Nelson is a Certified Peer Specialist (in PA) and an Advanced Level WRAP Facilitator. Over the years, Michael has trained many in the greater Philadelphia area and Montgomery County. Upholding a trauma-informed perspective, he also has valuable experience working with the justice system populations. Michael also received The Lifetime Achievement and Legacy Award from the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disabilities Professional Development SupportNetwork Meeting. Michael has also been honored with the privilege to enhance the operational work of IDEYAS Training Academy of PA. and addition he conducts I.P.S. (Intentional Peer Support) training within the R.H.D. staff community. Michael takes pride in supporting- and bridging- peers into active community roles. Presently, he works at Creating Increased Connections, RHD, and conducts contract work for the Copeland Center, Michael facilitates community-based peer support groups and workshops on various recovery topics. Michael’s mantra simply states, the only way I can be my best only happens if I can support you being your best. Striving we can all be our best together.
 Sarah Buffie, MSW, LSW, serves as the visionary founding director of Soul Bird Consulting, propelled by the profound conviction that nothing heals quite like supportive relationships. Specializing in Trauma-Responsive Care, Sarah actively seeks to dismantle existing paradigms by fostering empathy and understanding of the intricate effects of trauma. Drawing upon two decades of experience in human services and community building, she channels a deep-seated passion for felt-safety and belonging into her work. Sarah holds a Master's in Social Work and her academic journey was marked by a self-directed focus on Polyvagal Theory, Positive Psychology, and Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness practices, solidifying her commitment to innovative and holistic healing approaches. Rooted in an upbringing marked by service, hospitality, and generosity, Sarah continued her family legacy post-studies, spending transformative years in an Americorps program, Public Allies, in Cincinnati and another two with the Peace Corps in Namibia, Africa. These experiences enriched her understanding of the inherent value of interdependence and community connections. In her latest chapter, Sarah delves deeper into body-based practices, completing the first cohort of the Polyvagal Certificate Course through the Polyvagal Institute. She is now a certified Laughter Yoga Instructor and a SAH Method practitioner (Somatic Activated Healing). These modalities enable her to show up as a more fully integrated self. Grounded in the belief that healing requires feeling, she champions a trauma-informed approach, guiding others out of their heads and into their bodies. Sarah sees this lineage as a gift to those she serves daily—families, educators, and human service professionals seeking solace, and communities craving play, practice, and regulation. Join her on this transformative path, where felt-safety, belonging, regulation, and rootedness in our common humanity intertwine to create a world where pouring from a full cup is not just a possibility but a collective reality. Dr. Julia Garcia is a preeminent voice for the next generation. She helps schools, universities, and organizations build a culture where students are genuinely seen and valued. As a doctor of psychology and TEDx Speaker, Dr. J (as she is known to students) helps audiences get honest with how they feel and move forward together. Dr.J is unparalleled in her ability to connect with audiences across any demographic through her spoken word poetry and highly engaging approach. Specializing in campus culture, diversity, and mental health, Dr. Julia reminds us all to keep showing up for ourselves and each other. Dr. Julia has over a decade of experience working with hundreds of campuses, conferences, universities, and non-profit organizations, bringing interactive experiences that shape culture and improve outcomes for all students.
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Milton Dennis is a speaker, podcast host of, "Surviving Loss: Our Journey of Hope", author, and advocate on the East Coast. As a survivor of loss by suicide, Milton has himself overcome mental health challenges, as well as experienced those close to him going through their own. He devotes his life to continuing to learn how to be the best mental health awareness advocate he can be by helping others, and himself, with proven results. He is certified through multiple mental health advocate and educator certifications including Resilience Certified through TRACOM, Family Group Facilitator certified by the National Alliance on Mental Illness and an active group community member of Pulse Task Force. Milton splits his time between Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. with his wife.Upcoming Events
Tue Apr 30, 2024Orientation to Psychiatric Rehabilitation April 2024 Category: Virtual Training Event |
Mon May 6, 2024PR Services Documentation: Skills that Work for Regulators, Payers, and People in Services May 2024 Category: Virtual Training Event |
