Mental Health Association in DE

Justice-involved individuals possess valuable lived experiences that can contribute to the recovery and wellness of others. Becoming a Peer Support Specialist can provide an opportunity to transform personal experiences with incarceration, substance use, mental health challenges, recovery, reentry, and community reintegration into a source of hope and support for others.

This training will explore the benefits and opportunities associated with justice-involved individuals becoming Peer Support Specialists. Participants will examine how lived experience can promote connection and trust, while also learning the importance of professional boundaries, ethical practice, confidentiality, self-care, and maintaining a recovery-oriented approach.

The training will emphasize that a person's past does not have to define their future. Lived experience can become a foundation for meaningful employment, leadership, advocacy, personal growth, and service to others.

Learning Objectives:

• Define justice-involved individual and Peer Support Specialist.
• Identify at least four benefits of justice-involved individuals becoming Peer Support Specialists.
• Explain how lived experience can help Peer Support Specialists establish connection, trust, and credibility with individuals receiving services.
• Identify ways Peer Support work can support employment, leadership, recovery, and personal development.
• Describe the importance of maintaining professional boundaries when using lived experience.
• Identify potential challenges justice-involved individuals may experience when entering the Peer Support profession.
• Identify strategies for overcoming stigma, self-doubt, and employment barriers.
• Describe how justice-involved Peer Support Specialists can contribute to successful reentry and community wellness.