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In this episode, we speak with Claudia Battison, a Psychiatric Rehabilitation Technician (PRT) in the mental health system in Trieste Italy.  I am joined in this interview by Dr. Joy Agner, Assistant  Professor at the USC Chan School of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science at USC.  

 Heart Forward has become particularly interested in the potential role that occupational therapists --  if empowered to practice their profession to its full potential --  could play in mental health support settings in the U.S.  Unfortunately, the way that OT services are primarily funded (through short-term, medically oriented reimbursement systems) constrain their ability to come alongside people in their recovery journey over the long term.

 This topic was already approached in a Season Four podcast with Dr. Deborah Pitts from USC’s Chan School.

 In this conversation, we learn about the ways in which the PRT engages with the system users.  Three stark differences emerge:

•  Time.  There are no deadlines.  They are afforded the time necessary to get to know the user and tease out the life plans/goals (also referred to as a personal rehabilitation project) that are meaningful to the user.
• Friendship.  The relationship is described more like a friendship than what might be more typical in an American context.  This equates with the ethos of coming alongside people in horizontal relationships that eschew the power dynamics associated with “professional” more verticalized relationships.
• Team.  The PRT is part of a broader team – an équipe of other “operators” (their word for staff) – in the Community Mental Health Center.  The other team members can help to weigh in on how to support the system user; the PRT is not left to his or her own devices.

And, or course, all of this is grounded in the belief that a mental health system must support a person in all three pillars of one’s life:  casa, lavoro e socializazzione, or housing, work/purpose and community.  The PRT must pay attention to each of these pillars to provide support for recovery.

 As we have researched this further, it appears that this role if fairly unique to Italy and was created to augment the psycho-social support that is an underpinning to the Italian model.  As described in one of the articles linked below, “Psychiatric rehabilitation technicians are trained to perform multidisciplinary rehabilitation and education interventions for people and their carers.”  

 Here are two articles about the role of the Psychiatric Research Technician.

 Psychiatric Rehabilitation in Italy:  Cinderella No More – The Contributions of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Technicians.  Internation Journal of Mental Health.   2016

 Who cares for it?  How to provide psychosocial interventions in the community.  International Journal of Social Psychiatry.  2012