Peer Specialist

What is a Peer Specialist and what do they do?
Peer Specialists are individuals who have previous first-hand experience of living with a mental illness.  Peer Specialists offer a unique perspective in service delivery because they have at times, lived through the experience of what service recipients are experiencing, at the time support services are needed.
The Peer Specialist engages and encourages service recipients in recovery by providing a sense of belonging, modeling supportive relationships, valued roles and community. The goal of the Peer Specialist is to promote recovery, wellness, independent living, self direction to enhance the skill and ability of service recipients to meet their chosen goals.
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Service:  Wellness Management and Recovery
Wellness Management and Recovery (WMR) sessions are facilitated by Peer Specialist and are held on a one-to-one basis. 
The Wellness Management and Recovery service consists of a series of weekly sessions between the staff person and participant as they work through the “Illness Management and Recovery” curriculum developed by Substance Abuse Mental Health Service Administration.  Over a three to six month period of time the participant will be guided through the nine target areas of the standardized curriculum.  Peer Specialists will meet with the participant weekly (for 1 to 1.5 hours) to present information as well as review and assign “homework” to the participant.  Care Managers will receive monthly case notes documenting the progress towards completion of the Wellness Management and Recovery curriculum.
Participation in the WMR curriculum empowers individuals to:

• Identify and achieve personal goals,
• Develop informed, collaborative approaches to selecting and managing effective treatment.
• Achieve an overall healthier lifestyle.

The skills developed are assertive communication, decision-making, and problem-solving which support individual choice and informed decisions about personal wellness. Topics covered in the WMR Curriculum are:

• Recovery Strategies
• Discovery of Mental Health Diagnosis Specific to Individual
• Learning to Manage Symptoms and Side Effects
• Building Social Support and Involving Others
• The Role of Medication in Recovery and Wellness
• Reducing Relapses
• Coping with Stress
• Coping with Problems and Symptoms
• Effective Communication/Communication with Providers to Coordinate Your Care

Service:  Recovery Planning
Independent Living Resources staff will assist consumers with working through Mary Ellen Copeland’s Wellness Recovery Action Planning workbook.  Having access to a Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) is a wellness and relapse prevention program for people who experience symptoms of mental illness.  The WRAP program teaches people how to set up a daily maintenance plan, how to recognize the triggers that cause symptoms to develop, and how to build an action plan for when things are breaking down and they face a mental health crisis. Care Managers will receive monthly case notes documenting progress towards completion of the WRAP.  Upon completion of the WRAP the participant can decide to share the entire plan or portions of the plan with their team.

Benefits of Recovery Planning: The result of having a WRAP plan is generally to achieve recovery and long-term stability.  During the planning process, participants will work with a Peer Specialist to identify and document the wellness tools that will most benefit the individual and will teach the individual how to use these tools when needed.  WRAP will help individuals to monitor and relieve uncomfortable and distressing feelings and behaviors and identify their best course of action. WRAP planning also includes Crisis Planning (an Advance Directive) that lets others know how they want them to respond when they cannot make decisions, take care of themselves, or keep themselves safe.  There are also worksheets to complete a Post Crisis plan to guide them through the difficult time when they are healing from a crisis.
This type of planning will work well for people who have other medical conditions and life issues and as a framework to guide interpersonal relationships, peer support, groups, agencies, and organizations.
Key elements of the plan:

• Wellness Toolbox
• Daily Maintenance Plan
• Identifying Triggers and an Action Plan
• Identifying Early Warning Signs and an Action Plan
• Identifying When Things Are Breaking Down and an Action Plan
• Crisis Planning
• Post Crisis Planning.

The completed plan will help individuals by:

• Decreasing and prevent intrusive or troubling feelings and behaviors
• Increase personal empowerment
• Improve quality of life
• Assist individuals in achieving their own life goals and dreams.

To view the Peer Specialist "Code of Conduct" click here.