Leadership

ALEX J. KOPELOWICZ, MD is a professor of Psychiatry and Vice-Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the Geffen School of Medicine at the UCLA and Chief of Psychiatry at the Olive View Medical Center of UCLA. He has published many articles on schizophrenia with special attention to its impact on Latino patients and families. He has also been associated with the Latino Behavioral Health Institute in Los Angeles.

He has received many awards and honors for his work – among others, the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), the Simon Bolivar Award from the American Psychiatric Association where he is also a Distinguished Fellow.

REBECCA JAYNES, LCPC has been a faculty member with the PIER Training Institute since 2010 and a clinician with the PIER Program since 2007, in both a clinical capacity, and in overseeing community and outreach education.  Rebecca integrates her love of community education with her passion for clinical work, and infuses the principles of early psychosis intervention with peer and recovery-based principles.  Building off years of experience in consulting with states and mental health agencies to implement stigma-reducing, early intervention-enhancing outreach education programs, she has helped to bring quality PIER model services and Multi-Family Groups to many communities throughout the US.

Rebecca specializes in Community Outreach and Family Psychoeducation/Multifamily Groups, and is additionally trained and certified in CBT for psychosis, leading a train-the-trainer effort to expand CBTp services in Maine. Rebecca has a MA in Clinical Psychology from the University of Colorado-Denver, where she received an award as Outstanding Graduate Student, and a BA in psychology from Boston University, where she attained Phi Beta Kappa status.  She holds additional certifications in holistic mental health counseling and CBT for psychosis.

When not working, Rebecca enjoys the outdoors and time with family: “outdoor adventures fuel me, yoga and mindfulness ground me, parenting humbles me, and my clients inspire me.”

BARBARA C. WALSH, PhD has been a faculty member of PIER Training Institute since 2015.  Dr. Walsh is the Clinical Coordinator of the Prime Research Clinic at Yale University School of Medicine. She, in concert with Thomas H. McGlashen, designed, developed and tested the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS) that is the gold-standard for the early identification of prodromal symptoms. In addition to her on-going responsibilities at Yale, she has become the internationally recognized trainer in the use of this interviewing technique.

She received her PhD in Counselling Psychology from University College London and practiced as a family therapist for many years prior to devoting herself to research in the field of early psychosis. She has co-authored numerous peer reviewed articles on schizophrenia. 

SARAH LYNCH, LCSW has been a national trainer through Maine Medical Center and the PIER Training Institute since 2005.  For the last two decades, she has dedicated her career to early intervention in psychosis and evidence-based treatment models. She re-launched the Portland Identification and Early Referral (PIER) Program, a first episode and clinical high risk for psychosis treatment team at Maine Medical Center in 2015 and continues to work toward expansion and sustainability of these services statewide. This Coordinated Specialty Care model includes team-based treatment, a more creative approach to engagement involving family and supports, cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis, multifamily group psychoeducation, employment/education support, case management, medication management, peer support, family partners, and ongoing community outreach and education.  Prior to 2015, she was the Deputy Director for the RWJF-funded Early Detection and Intervention for the Prevention of Psychosis Program (EDIPPP) multisite study and the Clinical Team Leader of the PIER Program under Dr. William McFarlane.  She has been training and providing supervision to clinical teams nationally in early detection and team-based care, community outreach, and multifamily groups since 2005. She also now trains clinicians in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp).

Sarah is most excited by the paradigm shift in the mental health field to a more proactive, hopeful, and individualized model of treatment. She is inspired by the influence graduate parents and participants have in engaging new participants and educating our community through their stories, advocacy and ideas. The roles of Peer Support and Family Partners offer new possibilities for reducing barriers and stigma.  Ms. Lynch received her Master Degree in Social Work at Columbia University and her Bachelor of Arts at Connecticut College.

When not working, Sarah enjoys spending time outdoors with her family – she loves riding her bike, swimming, and singing.