Carlos Rodriguez Perez

Carlos Rodriguez Perez, is the former Executive Director at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, where he previously served as Deputy Director for Clinical Operations.

He is a graduate of the NYU Drama Therapy program and served at the NADTA board of directors (Treasurer, President Elect and President) as well as at the NCCATA board of directors (Treasurer).

Carlos began his career at Bronx Psychiatric Center (BPC), where developed his practice utilizing mask making as an intervention with people with Severe Mental Illnesses. During his tenure at BPC, Carlos was recruited to work at a Hispanic Unit there. These programs were new models investigating the impact of treatment delivered in Spanish by Latino staff members.
This bi-lingual and bi-cultural model was able to demonstrate that when treatment is delivered in the native language of the recipient, and cultural aspects are considered and incorporated into the patient's treatment plan, better outcomes are achieved.

In 2009, Carlos was recruited by HHC to be part of an administrative team aiming to transform the Behavioral Health Service at Kings County Hospital Center. As such, he became the Director
of the Wellness and Recovery Division at Kings County. At KCHC, he redeveloped the group programming, building one of the largest teams of Creative Arts Therapists found anywhere in a single institution. In collaboration with his team at Kings County, he developed a national model for the treatment of people with SMI for an underserved community largely composed of
immigrants.

Carlos also developed expertise on Sensory Modulation following best practices in the field to reduce the use of restrictive interventions in psychiatric settings. He has presented on the topic
at several venues including the PARS conference about the implementation and outcomes of Sensory Modulation at HHC facilities.

As part of the transformation efforts at Kings County, Carlos established relationships with not-for-profit organizations such as the Beautiful Distress Foundation, Residency Unlimited, No
Longer Empty and the FJK Dance Company to explore art interventions to impact health care outcomes by engaging artists as studio residents within the hospital. Carlos worked with these organizations to establish Artist-In-Residence programs at Kings County with the aim to both reduce the stigma of those suffering with mental illness and to engage the community surrounding the hospital.

Within the LGTBQ community Carlos was part of the Board of Directors of Latino Gay Men of New York in the 1990’s. This organization provided support groups and advocacy for Latino
men during the AIDS pandemic. This included collaborations with the Hispanic Federation, Gay Pride Inc., GMHC, the Puerto Rican Parade Inc. and Repertorio Español theater company.

Most recently, Carlos has begun to explore how developments in the field of psychedelics can be utilized for treatments by Creative Arts Therapists.