A Certified Peer Support Specialist also known as Certified Peer Specialist is a person with significant life-changing experience. This is also called the life experience . These specialists support individuals with struggles related to mental health, psychological trauma or substance use. Because of their life experiences, such people have skills that professional training can not replicate. This is not to be confused with peer educators who may not consider recovering goals that suit everyone and may focus on harm reduction principles.
There are many tasks performed by peer support specialists that may include helping their peers in articulating their goals for recovery, learning and practicing new skills, helping them monitor their progress, supporting them in their care, modeling effective coping techniques and self-strategies -help based on own specialist recovery experience, and support them in advocating themselves for effective services.
As of September 2012, 36 US states have established programs that train and certify individuals with life experiences who have begun their recovery and are willing to support others in their recovery process.
Video Peer support specialist
Fellow recovery support specialist
Peer recovery support specialists (P-RSS) are the job titles of trained individuals who engage with colleagues at a community-based recovery center, or beyond that around a number of activities, or over the phone as well. Peer support specialists can work with individuals as they develop and implement personal recovery plans, which can also serve as contracts for engagement.
The Veteran Administration has increased its number of peer specialists to 800 by the end of 2013. VA uses peer support specialists such as local, state, and private agencies.
Recovery planning
The recovery plan can take many forms. The main component of the recovery management model is the personal recovery plan. These plans are prepared by individuals seeking support, and reviewed with RSS. This peer-centered recovery plan is very important for individuals in their recovery process.
The essence of the plan is the overall health and well-being of every individual, not just their mental health. Components often include support groups and individual therapies, basic health care care, stable housing, improvements in family life and personal relationships and community connections. The plan may also include educational, employment and employment objectives. Some plans outline schedules for monitoring, and/or plans for re-engagement when necessary to balance overall health and quality of life for each individual. Peer recovery support specialists can be found in a variety of increasing settings, including community-based recovery centers. Funding for a peer recovery program comes from a combination of federal and state agencies as well as local and national charities and grant programs, such as Catholic Charity and the Unite Road.
Training and certification
When peer support specialists work in publicly funded services, peer support specialists are required to meet government and state certification requirements. Since the adaptation of the Recovery Management Model by state and federal agencies, peer support specialist programs have been offered by state, nonprofit and nonprofit institutions such as the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery, the Pennsylvania Foundation's Community Recovery-Recovery Community (PRO-ACT)) , The McShin Foundation, Tennessee Certified Peer Recovery Specialist Training and Program, the Appalachian Consulting Group, and the Office of the New York State Dependency Services. PARfessionals has developed the first internationally agreed online training program for peer support specialists in the field of mental health and addiction recovery. In addition, there are many non-profit companies that offer training in peer support specialists. The training includes courses on the ethics of recovery trainers, core competency recovery training, clinical theories as change stages, motivational interviews, and co-occurring disorders.
Core competencies
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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