Trainings
& Consulting
Transformative learning grounded in lived experience.
Whether you’re a nonprofit leader, clinical educator, or workplace wellness coordinator, I bring a human-centered, experiential approach to building skills and shifting mindsets. My trainings and consulting engagements are rooted in lived experience with schizophrenia and designed to be practical, interactive, and deeply resonant. I help professionals and organizations go beyond buzzwords—toward real understanding, real connection, and real change.
How I Work
Every organization is different, and so is every engagement. I collaborate closely with clients to tailor each session to your audience, goals, and context. That might mean adapting a signature training into a half-day workshop, co-creating a curriculum for clinicians, or consulting on how to build a more inclusive mental health culture in your workplace.
My sessions are:
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- Interactive – Expect group reflection, discussion, and real-world scenarios.
- Lived experience–informed – I speak from personal experience, not just theory.
- Trauma-aware – I prioritize psychological safety and empathy in every room I enter.
- Actionable – Participants leave with concrete takeaways they can apply immediately.
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sample formats
Trainings and consulting engagements are available virtually or in person, depending on your needs and location.
- 90-minute workshop – Ideal for teams looking for a focused skill-building session.
- Half-day or full-day training – Deeper dives into topics like crisis de-escalation or workplace mental health.
- Multi-session training series – Great for professional development cohorts or clinical training programs.
- Ongoing consulting – Advising on communication practices, policy review, or organizational culture.
Workshops & Trainings
All formats are available virtually or in person. Each session blends professional insight with lived experience, creating a grounded, empathetic space for learning and reflection.
Mental Health Crisis De-escalation: A Survivor’s Perspective
Most crisis trainings are designed by clinicians. This one is led by someone who has lived through crisis. In this workshop, I offer concrete strategies for de-escalating people in distress — drawn from my personal experience navigating psychiatric emergencies. You’ll learn what helps (and what harms) from the inside, with an emphasis on dignity, choice, and connection.
Supporting People with Serious Mental Illness in Clinical Settings
This session helps providers and trainees move beyond diagnosis and pathology to build stronger, trust-based relationships with clients who experience psychosis, mood instability, or other serious mental health challenges. I discuss how subtle language cues, power dynamics, and unexamined biases can shape the therapeutic relationship — and what clinicians can do to foster real collaboration.
Supporting a Loved One with Serious Mental Illness
When someone you love is struggling with psychosis, mood swings, or hospitalization, it can be hard to know what to say — or whether you’re helping at all. This workshop offers practical tools and honest insight for families and caregivers, grounded in both research and lived experience. We’ll explore how to support without controlling, how to build trust across delusional beliefs, and how to care for yourself in the process.
Mental Health in the Workplace: Beyond “Self-Care”
As someone who has both navigated mental illness at work and advocated for accommodations, I speak candidly about what it actually means to support employees with serious mental health conditions. This workshop is designed for HR professionals, managers, and staff teams looking to foster a culture of respect, flexibility, and inclusion.
Consulting Support
I partner with organizations, clinicians, educators, and individuals to bring the nuance of lived experience into mental health strategy and communication. My consulting work is collaborative, trauma-informed, and grounded in the belief that people with serious mental illness deserve not just services, but dignity.
Areas of support include:
Program, Service, & Curriculum Consulting
I provide feedback on programs, services, and curricula related to psychosis, crisis response, and serious mental illness. Whether you’re developing training materials or designing a residential program, I offer insights grounded in lived experience to help ensure your efforts are respectful, practical, and responsive to real-world needs.
Language and Framing Audits
I review websites, outreach materials, and internal documents to identify stigmatizing language and offer alternatives. My goal is to help your messaging reflect the dignity, complexity, and humanity of the people you serve.
Organizational Accessibility Strategy
I support teams in identifying barriers to inclusion and building more empowering mental health environments. This may include reviewing policies, assessing cultural messaging, or advising on respectful client and staff engagement.
1:1 Consulting for Families and Caregivers
I provide supportive guidance to loved ones of people with serious mental illness who want to understand their role, improve communication, or simply feel more grounded and less alone in what can be an overwhelming journey.
Peer-to-Peer Consults
For people navigating serious mental illness themselves, I offer supportive sessions focused on making sense of diagnoses, exploring treatment options, and finding language that affirms and empowers your experience.
Testimonials
“Her insights were extremely helpful and her openness about her personal lived experiences would be helpful to anyone trying to improve their understanding of mental illness. We hope to use her skills in our future volunteer training.”
“Sally was incredibly knowledgeable, effusive, and supportive during our call. She provided personal anecdotes to help me understand my own mental health diagnosis and listened to my stories with clear interest. With her guidance I felt safe and supported to share my own situation, discuss my treatment, and look toward a future where… those of us with serious mental illness are understood and given the space we need to thrive rather than just survive.”
“[Sally] has such a strong and articulate viewpoint of what her experience was like that I can see her guiding caregivers and providers alike through the maze of emotions that occur when caring for someone who has lived experience with psychosis. Learning from her narrative can teach all of us how to better serve those to whom we choose to devote our life’s work. Any organization who needs skilled, masterful training for teams or anyone under their purview simply cannot go wrong with utilizing Sally’s approach to knowing more about what life with psychosis is truly like.”
Let’s Talk
Use the button below to book a 30-minute exploratory call. If you’re ready to dive in with a full consulting session, you can schedule your first 1-hour session from the same calendar.
