Bio | Sarah Lynch, LCSW

Sarah is the Program Manager for the Portland Identification and Early Referral (PIER) Program, an early psychosis treatment program at Maine Medical Center.  For the past 16 years, she has worked with young people with early symptoms of psychosis and their families. Formerly, she was the Clinical Team Leader of the original PIER Program and Deputy Director of the final years of the RWJF-funded Early Detection and Intervention for the Prevention of Psychosis multisite study.  Currently she oversees the clinical team at MMC and is working toward expansion and sustainability of these services statewide. This model includes team-based treatment, a more creative approach to engagement, cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis, multifamily group psychoeducation, peer support, employment/education support, case management, medication management, and community education.

Sarah has been training early psychosis teams around the country in components of the treatment model since 2005. For the last 5 years, she has received training, consultation and certification in CBTp. In her experience with early intervention, she is most excited by the paradigm shift in the field to a more proactive, hopeful, and individualized model of treatment.