AIHM Wellness Webinar | ACIH Integrative Practice Series | Centering Relational Health: The Integrative Pain Management Program at People’s Community Clinic

December 1, 2022 @ 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm

Registration Link: Here

Description:  People’s Community Clinic, a federally qualified health center in Austin, Texas, has created an Integrative Pain Management Program (IPMP) aligned with best practices to better serve its patients living with complex chronic pain and trauma. The IPMP integrates numerous evidence-based services offered at the clinic, including primary care, behavioral health, substance use treatment, nutrition, acupuncture, yoga therapy, group medical visits, and medical-legal services. The goal is to improve patients’ quality of life, mitigate opioid prescribing, and address inequities in the health care system around pain care. In this session, participants will learn about the different components of the program and how centering relational health can transform the patient experience and their healing journey.

 

Presenter Bios: 

Sharad Kohli, MD, Family Physician, and IPMP Medical Director – Dr. Sharad Kohli is a family physician who has dedicated his career to advancing health equity. He has spent two decades working with Federally Qualified Health Centers in urban and rural settings in California and Texas. He co-founded Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US) and served in leadership for the Integrative Health Policy Consortium (IHPC). Dr. Kohli is currently the Medical Director of the Integrative Pain Management Program at People’s Community Clinic, an FQHC in Austin, Texas.

Denise Gomez, IPMP Care Coordinator – Denise Gomez is the Integrative Pain Management Coordinator at People’s Community Clinic. She enrolls patients in IPMP, coordinates all the referrals for each service offered, schedules patients, follows up with them, maintains data reports, and works with contractors. She started working at PCC more than 4 years ago and previously served as Patient Service Representative and a Financial Counselor, where she provided customer service and assisted patients in applying for insurance and other benefit programs. Denise graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos, majoring in Marketing. She realized healthcare was where she wanted to stay and wanted to be more involved in patient care. She truly enjoys being a part of many patients’ health journeys at People’s. She enjoys watching sports like soccer and basketball and spending quality time with her family.

Kelley Roberts, LCSW, IPMP Program Manager – Kelley is a licensed clinical social worker based in Austin, Texas, where she practices at People’s Community Clinic. Kelley works primarily as a psychotherapist and specializes in working with adults living with trauma and stressor-related disorders and chronic pain (MyTopCare). Kelley is also the Program Manager for the Integrative Pain Management Program at People’s Community Clinic, where she works with a multidisciplinary team to advance trauma-responsive, integrative, and integrated care in this primary care setting.

Jessica Wansart, LCSW-S, Substance Use Counselor and Substance Use Clinical Program Manager – Jessica Wansart is an LCSW-S and the Substance Use Clinical Program Manager at People’s Community Clinic. Jessica specializes in working with diverse populations coping with the intersection of substance use, trauma, and mental health. She is trained in EMDR, Motivational Interviewing, and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and is passionate about using attachment-focused therapy to help individuals explore the connection between their early relation experiences and ongoing difficulties in the present while facilitating opportunities for healing and repair. Jessica is dedicated to working from an integrative perspective to center relational health and bridge the gap between physiological and psychological well-being.

Courtney Bailey, Yoga Instructor – As the Director of Issue & Engagement at Leadership Austin, Courtney leads Engage (a 10-month panel series in partnership with Austin -PBS) and Essential (Leadership Austin’s Flagship program for established leaders). Courtney’s main focus is to inspire leaders to not only understand their roles within oppressive systems but to apply what they learn in her sessions to their spheres of influence in a meaningful way without causing inadvertent harm. Courtney gives back to her community through various volunteer roles on boards, advisory councils, and committees.  She is also a registered trauma-informed yoga/wellness facilitator emphasizing racial trauma, internalized racism, historical and transgenerational trauma, and mental health in Black and Latinx communities. She currently teaches chair yoga for People Community Clinic’s Integrated Pain Management Program as part of the Sundara Yoga Therapy team.  Courtney’s workshops have also been featured in Greater Austin, California, the District of Columbia, Colorado, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. As a facilitator, Courtney strives to cultivate a restorative space for others to unmask and bring their authentic selves, lived experiences, differences, and problem-solving skills into the shared environment. Courtney’s favorite quote: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” – Audre Lorde

Billy Zachary, Licensed Acupuncturist – Billy Zachary is a licensed acupuncturist with over fifteen years of experience as a professional practitioner. Following his acupuncture licensure, he completed extensive training in the Hakomi method of mindfulness-centered somatic psychotherapy.  He began working with students as a clinic supervisor in 2014.  After completing his doctorate in 2019, he now teaches at the Master’s and Doctoral levels at AOMA: Graduate School of Integrative Medicine. At People’s Community Clinic, he participates both in the integrative pain management program and supervises acupuncture students who treat the general population.  Outside of People’s and AOMA, he maintains an active clinical practice in Austin, Texas, where he specializes in the use of acupuncture & herbal medicine in the treatment of emotional trauma. In his previous life, he trained and taught a traditional Korean martial art called Kuk Sool Won, which emphasizes mindfulness, meditation, joint manipulation, and pressure points, and still teaches it today.  His first foray into Traditional East Asian medicine was in Zen Shiatsu.

Jennifer Beltran, Group Visit Coordinator – Jennifer Beltran is an accomplished professional with over 10 years of experience in crisis intervention, facilitating community engagements, and advocacy. Jennifer has a Master’s in Forensic Psychology and spent most of her career integrating mental health practices into various legal systems. Collaborating with non-profit organizations and government agencies, she has held many roles, such as counselor, legal advocate, and mitigation specialist. More recently, Jennifer has transitioned into the field of healthcare, where she has continued to use her skills and experience using integrative models to serve at the intersection of diversified disciplines. She enjoys live music, comedy, and spending time with her dogs in her free time.

AJ Juraska, MPH, Director of Analytics and Evaluation – AJ Juraska (she/they) is the Director of Analytics and Evaluation for People’s Community Clinic, a Federally Qualified Health Center. At People’s, AJ supervises the analytics team, which produces reports on clinical quality and operations metrics. She also works with innovative programs at the clinic to evaluate their contributions to patient care. Prior to working at People’s, AJ worked as the Senior Director of Data, Evaluation, and IT for The SAFE Alliance. AJ holds a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University. In her free time, AJ loves reading, doing puzzles, and spending time with her Great Dane/Husky mix puppy.