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Live Webinar

Removing Barriers to Clozapine: Clinical, Program, and Family Views

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Information

Date & Time

Description

Clozapine remains the most effective treatment for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, yet it continues to be substantially underused. This interdisciplinary program examines the clinical, organizational, and family-level barriers that delay or prevent appropriate clozapine treatment. A psychiatrist, behavioral-health CEO, and family advocate will discuss patient selection, risk-benefit assessment, side-effect and laboratory monitoring, program infrastructure, family concerns, and practical strategies that can make clozapine treatment more accessible and sustainable. The discussion will emphasize evidence-based care while translating the evidence into real-world clinical and operational practice.

Educational Goal

The educational goal of this workshop is to increase clinicians’ knowledge of evidence-based clozapine treatment for treatment-resistant psychosis and provide practical strategies for overcoming clinical, organizational, and patient/family barriers to its appropriate use.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Identify at least three common clinical and systems-level barriers that contribute to underuse of clozapine in treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

  • Describe at least three evidence-based considerations for selecting, initiating, monitoring, and maintaining patients on clozapine.

  • Apply at least two practical strategies for reducing monitoring, adherence, and care-coordination barriers for patients and families receiving clozapine.

  • Explain how interdisciplinary collaboration among prescribers, treatment programs, patients, and families can improve continuity and long-term access to clozapine.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Sarah Summey is a behavioral health executive, public health professional, and mental health advocate who serves as CEO of Lakewood Center and President of NAMI Central Florida. She holds master’s degrees in clinical psychology and health care administration and is currently pursuing her doctorate in public health at the University of Tennessee with more than two decades of healthcare experience, she has led organizational growth, behavioral health operations, program development, and system transformation across nonprofit and hospital settings. Her work is grounded in improving access to care, reducing stigma, strengthening systems that support people with serious mental illness, and translating policy and evidence into meaningful community impact. As an educator, Sarah brings a practical, real-world perspective that connects behavioral healthcare, leadership, advocacy, and public health.
Jonathan Stevens, MD, MPH is a triple board-certified psychiatrist in Adult Psychiatry, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and Obesity Medicine with over 20 years of clinical experience. He specializes in the early identification and treatment of complex psychiatric conditions in adolescents and young adults, including mood disorders, psychosis, ADHD, OCD, developmental disorders, and dual-diagnosis presentations. Dr. Stevens is the founder of Psych Insight and InnerSpace in Houston, where he leads a multidisciplinary team delivering precision-based psychiatric care. His approach integrates structured diagnostics, neurocognitive measurement, pharmacogenetics, and interventional treatments such as TMS and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. He is particularly focused on improving outcomes in treatment-resistant depression and emerging psychotic disorders through data-informed, individualized care. A former academic leader and department chief, Dr. Stevens now concentrates on advancing a modern, measurement-driven model of psychiatry that blends rigorous diagnostics with practical, real-world stabilization strategies. He is a frequent speaker on personalized psychiatry, early psychosis detection, and innovative treatment pathways for adolescents and young adults.
Rachel A. Streiff earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with a Biomedical Engineering option from the University of Arizona and spent 27 years working across chemical, biomedical, process, and industrial engineering. A Motorola Legacy Six Sigma Black Belt, she now applies her background in systems analysis and process improvement to reforming systems of care for people with serious mental illness (SMI). Rachel is a nationally recognized SMI and clozapine-access advocate who helped lead the caregiver movement that successfully pushed for the elimination of the FDA’s clozapine REMS program. She continues to advocate for policy and systems reforms that remove barriers to evidence-based treatment, expand access to competent clozapine care and point-of-care blood monitoring, and improve outcomes for people with the most severe psychiatric illnesses. Rachel is co-founder of The Angry Moms and Arizona Mad Moms, organizations dedicated to improving treatment, services, and public policy for people with SMI and their families.

Financially Sponsored By

  • Lakewood Center