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Certified Peer Support
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What is a Peer Specialist?
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A Peer Specialist is an individual with lived recovery experience who has been trained and certified to help their peers gain hope and move forward in their own recovery.
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HandUP is dedicated to developing a strong peer workforce.
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This workforce is an integral part of treatment teams in both public and private settings including inpatient care, community-based services, consumer-run respite services, and in a wide variety of roles. This is a rapidly growing workforce and HandUP is here to help you become part of it today!

The HandUP Peer Specialist works to:
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Cultivate their peers’ ability to make informed, independent choices
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Help their peers identify and build on their strengths
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Assists their peers in gaining information and support from the community to make their goals a reality
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​Help peers create individual service plans based on recovery goals and steps to achieve those goals
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​Use recovery-oriented tools to help their peers address challenges
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​Assist others to build their own self-directed wellness plans
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​Support peers in their decision-making
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​Set up and sustain peer self-help and educational groups
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​Offer a sounding board and a shoulder to lean on…and more!