Sarah Riley, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry, has been named medical director of the Specialized Treatment Early in Psychosis (STEP) Clinic at the Connecticut Mental Health Center.
Riley completed residency training in the Yale Psychiatry Residency Program and was an attending physician at Yale New Haven Hospital before being recruited to STEP in 2022.
She will join Shannon Imetovski, RN, MPH ( clinical team leader) to lead STEP’s clinical service.
“We are lucky to have Sarah helping us continue to improve the care we provide at STEP,” said Vinod Srihari, MD, professor of psychiatry and director of STEP. “She will also play an important role in our efforts to improve outcomes for all individuals with first episode psychosis in Connecticut. I am also deeply grateful to John Cahill’s prior leadership as medical director and for his continued role in STEP’s mission.”
STEP is a collaborative program of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services and Yale Department of Psychiatry. It is staffed by an interdisciplinary team of mental health providers in different fields – psychology, psychiatry, nursing, and social work. This team seeks to provide comprehensive care for individuals who are early in the course of a psychotic illness to prevent symptoms from becoming disabling.
STEP’s service includes early detection, and a comprehensive assessment to gain the best understanding of what may be causing the person's difficulties. Based upon individual needs and preferences, treatment may include medication management, community coaching (e.g. support in getting back to school or work), psychotherapy, as well as support and education for family members and friends.
The STEP Learning Collaborative is a statewide effort to improve access and care quality for people with early course schizophrenia spectrum disorders. STEP’s clinical service along with its research staff now provide a hub to support agencies across the state.