“We can’t know what a person needs until we first understand what they want.”

Sidecar Consulting provides subject matter expertise, training, and event facilitation, working primarily in the mental health services sector (and other related systems). By offering programs and learning opportunities, Sidecar aims to shape the MH system to become more responsive to people receiving services, as well as professionals.

Sidecar is known for offering evidence-based support on the following topics:

  • Person-centered approaches, including Person Centered Recovery Planning (PCRP)

  • Peer Services program development

  • Professional development for certified Peer Specialist Supervisors

  • Trauma-responsive approaches for people in recovery and staff wellness

  • Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAPⓇ) facilitation, implementation support, and mentoring

  • Participatory facilitation methods and leadership coaching

  • Professional development opportunities for a variety of people in provider, caregiver, and program leadership roles

  • Implementation best practices

  • Program evaluation and research (e.g., focus groups, interviews, facilitated sessions)

Amanda Bowman, LCSW-S, PSS (she/her)
Principle
Using participatory facilitation methods as the foundation of her work, Amanda enjoys supporting human systems to more easily identify and realize their potential. She provides training, consulting, and other facilitative experiences as the owner of Sidecar Consulting. Amanda’s work has focused on systems change in mental health and the Recovery Movement in Texas since 2013. As a clinical social worker using her personal lived experience with mental health challenges, Amanda envisions a more recovery-oriented culture in behavioral health service delivery, where human-centered practices are the expectation and the norm. Amanda is recognized as a national expert in person-centered recovery planning, the implementation of professional peer support in clinical settings, learning collaborative program design, and implementation best practices for human service agencies. Amanda pulls from her professional experience as a clinician, clinical supervisor, and program administrator during her 13 years at a state psychiatric hospital in Austin. As an Advanced Level WRAPⓇ Facilitator, certified Peer Specialist Supervisor, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, board-approved clinical supervisor, and person in recovery, she enthusiastically promotes a community-based system of wellness support that equally values clinical and non-clinical options and honors true choice for those it aims to help.