How Peer Support Services Can Transform Your Mental Health Journey-💜

Key Takeaways

• Peer support services connect people in need of mental health support with knowledgeable individuals who have personally experienced the issues they are trained to support, like substance use disorders.
• Certified peer support specialists and youth peer support specialists assist in bridging clinical care with day to day recovery.
• Peer services provide emotional support and social interaction, paired with nonjudgmental guidance. These peer workers can be found in mental health centers with 12-step programs, hospitals, in recovery community centers, and at organizations like CNS Healthcare in Detroit.
• Studies from the Mental Health Services Administration and Michigan Department of Health demonstrate that having strong support systems can encourage healthy relationships for those with behavioral health issues.
• When it comes to child welfare, foster care, juvenile justice, or situations where a client is involved with the criminal justice system, peer mentors have the ability to advocate for trauma-informed care.
• Peer specialists can take advantage of statewide training offered by the Office of Behavioral Health in Michigan. This training is responsible for creating educated mentors that leverage evidence-based tools like wellness recovery action plans to help guide your journey to recovery.

What Are Peer Support Services?

Peer Support Services train individuals who have had a past lived experience with a particular mental health or substance use disorder to provide guidance to others facing similar situations.

These peer workers may have an existing background as Certified Peer Support Specialists, youth peer support specialists, or parent support partners. You may come across them in settings like behavioral health centers, primary care, recovery community centers, or even in the Emergency Department working alongside treatment providers and social workers.

These individuals share a unique perspective that helps connect clinical services with recovery needs.

To become a peer support specialist in the United States, you must have personal experience with specific behavioral health conditions like bipolar disorder or persistent mental illness. In certain cases, the Michigan Certification Board for Addiction Professionals demands at least a high school diploma for this position.

Once hired, specialists will assist in treatment planning, providing referrals for food resources and child care, life skills coaching, community inclusion events, and discharge planning from hospital stays. They will also provide clients access to wellness programs and tools including Wellness Recovery Action Plans.

While they do not directly perform therapy or prescribe medication like mental health professionals, their unique role model status brings hope to young adults and their family members who are struggling through long-term recovery processes within the behavioral health system.

Peer support services provide essential emotional and social connections that empower individuals through shared personal experiences.

Emotional and Social Support

Support networks that offer support from others who have gone through similar lived experiences, like substance use recovery, can help you feel less isolated.

In these programs, you'll receive encouragement from peer recovery coaches, certified peer recovery mentors, and youth peer support services providers who have been in your shoes before, and who are aware of the effects of various mental health conditions.

Research conducted by the Mental Health Services Administration and Michigan Department of Health demonstrates that peer support work and support systems can help to encourage and grow strong relationships.

Mental health centers like CNS Healthcare in the state of Michigan employ trained care teams that can provide the peer-delivered services and community events that mental health patients need.

Whether you're a client over 18 years of age or a minor currently in foster care, peer mentors can help you get access to Trauma-Informed Care throughout treatment programs across various social services, juvenile justice, child welfare, criminal justice systems.

Empowerment Through Shared Experiences

Peer support specialists in Macomb County leverage their past lived experiences with serious mental illness or substance abuse to help people feel less alone, and more understood. Peer support providers may have faced similar challenges to you, for example, working within the behavioral health system or facing unfair stigma from their community.

Peer support providers help individuals by using structured training from organizations like Mental Health America. You'll start to gain skills and grow your confidence by first learning what worked well for others, and then incorporating it into your own recovery.

Some peer services groups, like the Veterans support group at CNS, train Veterans or those with developmental disabilities to become peer supporters. This becomes very beneficial for fellow Veterans and those that struggle with various disabilities who need access to assistance programs specific to their needs.

How Peer Support Transforms the Mental Health Journey

Peer support can transform a person's mental health journey by creating connection and collaborating with community partners.

Building Resilience and Recovery

Building up mental health resilience requires setting recovery goals and developing vital life skills. Peer support services can assist you with both of these goals effectively by focusing on shared experiences in a group environment which provides emotional and social support for attendees.

Peer support workers also assist with discharge planning, guiding you through the resources available to you within the mental health system.

Enhancing Access to Resources and Care

Peer support services play a vital role in improving access to resources and behavioral health services for all young people with mental struggles. These services provide mentoring, guidance, and mental health support to even those with developmental disabilities.

The Office of Behavioral Health in Michigan provides statewide training for peer specialists. This training occurs at few times each year, both virtually and in-person. These training programs ensure that you're receiving the best assistance from trained professionals who understand the behavioral health systems local to Oakland County.

Conclusion

Peer support services can greatly improve the path of your recovery process when you're connected with others who have gone through similar problems. These vital services create a system of emotional and social support while simultaneously empowering you through shared experiences.

Peer specialists will also help you build up mental resilience and get you much needed access to essential behavioral health resources.

CNS Healthcare in Oakland County offers local peer support groups that will provide community and guidance you as you navigate your mental health challenges. Reach out to us today to get the support you need.

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