PEER Specialist

Peer Specialists work closely with individuals to facilitate positive changes in various aspects of their lives, including home, work, community, and health. They actively engage in goal-setting and provide support to help individuals achieve these goals. Peer Specialists play a significant role in destigmatizing mental health conditions and addiction through personalized interactions, whether in one-on-one sessions, group settings, face-to-face meetings, text communications, phone calls, or online platforms. Their involvement often stems from individuals' desires to enact changes following significant life events. It is essential to recognize the unique support Peer Specialists offer in conjunction with other mental health services to aid individuals in their recovery journey.

groups

  • Providing continuum care

  • Provide a safe atmosphere for participants

  • Group process and facilitation

  • Emotional Support

  • Maintenance and guidance throughout recovery

  • Identify problems and help find solutions

  • Utilizing her own resources to guide others to accomplish goals

Recovery Support

  • Assists the individual to identify and build on their strengths and resiliencies

  • Recognizes that there are multiple pathways to recovery/wellness.

  • Utilizes principles of recovery

  • Recovery Capitol

  • Recognizes the stages of change

  • Developing recovery goals and plans

  • Person-centered principles and practices

  • Collaboration methods

  • Use of self-help groups and other recovery support services

  • Applies effective coaching techniques such as Motivational Interviewing

Mentoring

  • Establishing and terminating the peer relationship

  • Effective methods to tell personal recovery story

  • Building supportive relationships

  • Role-modeling

  • Inspiring hope

  • Educational methods

  • Interpersonal communication principles and methods

  • Wellness planning

  • Teaching practical living skills, personal care, etc.

  • Assists individuals to identify their experience, personal characteristics, strengths, and skills necessary to develop success

INDIVIDUAL session

  • Provide a safe atmosphere for participants

  • Provides weekly check-ins with participants

  • Emotional Support

  • Maintenance and guidance throughout recovery

  • Weekly one on ones

  • 3-month goal setting

  • Providing continuum care

  • Identify problems and help find solutions

  • Utilizing own resources to guide others to accomplish goals

  • Using the R-1 Recovery technique to help identify areas of need

  • Listen attentively

  • Creating a safety plan for each participant

  • Navigate help and guidance through each individual's recovery

Advocacy

  • Applies the principles of individual choice and self-determination

  • Stigma

  • Social injustice issues relating to factors such as race, culture, sexual orientation, class, disability

  • Protecting rights

  • Advocacy strategies to support peers

  • Influencing and negotiation

  • Empowerment strategies

  • Fostering self‐advocacy skills among persons served

  • Concept of self‐determination and how to support it

Crisis Assistance

  • Identifies triggers for mental health symptoms and abuse of substances

  • Helps to manage crises -Discuss warning signs and healthy coping strategies

  • Medication (side effects, management)

  • Trauma-informed services

  • Resource linkage/making referrals

  • Use of natural support systems

  • Crisis situations and strategies for intervention

  • Identify potential risks and use procedures that reduce risks

  • Recognizes signs of distress

  • Provides reassurance to peers in distress.

  • Strives to create safe spaces when meeting with peers

  • Takes action to address distress or a crisis by using knowledge of local resources, treatment, services, and support preferences.

  • Assists peers in developing advance directives and other crisis prevention tools.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The five competencies exist to ensure peer support work is:

Core competencies for peer workers in behavioral health services.

  1. Recovery-oriented and empowers people to choose recovery and find meaning and purpose throughout the process

  2. Person-centered by celebrating a person's strengths and focusing on individual needs and goals

  3. Voluntary and prioritizes autonomy, choice, and collaboration, allowing a person to play an important role in their recovery

  4. Relationship-focused by creating a foundation established on respect, trust, mutuality, and lived experience

  5. Trauma-informed through emphasizing physical, emotional, and psychological safety