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. DBSA’s Peer Apprentice Program prepares professionals to work closely with the community. DBSA sat down with Jolie M. and Maze C. to talk about their experiences with DBSA’s Peer Apprentice Program.
What inspired you to want to become a peer specialist?
Jolie: I always believed that personal stories would provide hope to someone who is initiating or is already on their recovery journey. That really is my inspiration, it is the stories, and having wished that someone would have been able to share that with me at the beginning of my journey, how helpful that would have been.
Maze: To help others overcome the situation I’m living with.
What has been your biggest learning or takeaway from your time at DBSA so far?
Jolie: So far, I’m most excited to know that peer support is evidenced to reduce rehospitalization and that it’s cost-saving and effective in improving outcomes for people. It’s exciting to me because it proves that peer support is beneficial to people seeking wellness.
Maze: Flexibility! Working outside of the box, I’m doing things that I normally wouldn’t do, so flexibility and working outside of the box is my biggest takeaway.
What do you hope for your future in being a Peer Specialist?
Jolie: I hope to work as a peer specialist in a drop-in center or living room environment or anywhere I can engage with peers, where I can share my own journey of recovery, sharing lived experiences.
Maze: Again, helping people to overcome their daily obstacles. And to help people control their situations, whether it is medications, support groups, or helping people accept where they are in life. To help people find wellness in their own lives.
What do you think our broader community should know more about peer support?
Jolie: First, that the profession exists! Next, that peer support specialists provide hope for our peers who are on their recovery journey. Really, it is just providing hope.
Maze: That we are here! That we have lived experience and we offer just as much as other clinicians might offer because we are able to better connect with them. People with lived experience have more to offer, we offer lived-first-hand experiences.
