Employed in a wide variety of settings, peer specialists are individuals with lived experience of mental illness, who are in recovery and willing to use their life experiences to assist others in earlier stages of recovery. Because peer specialists can relate to the consumer experience, they are often thought of as the “bridge” that connects the consumer to the mental health system. Peer support services provided by a Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) are related to the consumer’s individualized treatment plan (i.e., helping consumers develop skills for coping and managing psychiatric symptoms or providing consumers an opportunity to support each) and are often based on the concept of mutuality. For instance, supporting another consumer not only helps that individual, but also helps to strengthen one’s personal recovery (Kaufman, L. Peer Specialist Learning Community Summary Report: October 2010).
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