Peer Support Specialist

Community Counseling Center (CCC)•Sainte Genevieve, MO

9d•Onsite

About The Position

Peer support specialists perform a wide range of tasks in emergency, outpatient or inpatient settings that are designed to assist clients in recovery and living in the community by sharing their own personal experience in dealing with mental illness. Peer support encompasses a range of activities and interactions between people who share similar experiences of being diagnosed with mental health conditions, substance use disorders, or both. This mutuality-often called "peerness"-between a peer support worker and person in or seeking recovery promotes connection and inspires hope. Peer support offers a level of acceptance, understanding, and validation not found in many other professional relationships. By sharing their own lived experience and practical guidance, peer support workers help people to develop their own goals, create strategies for self-empowerment, and take concrete steps towards building fulfilling, self-determined lives for themselves.

Requirements

High School Diploma / GED / HSE
Must self-identify as a former or current consumer of mental health, behavioral health, substance use, or co-occurring disorder services, and must hold, or be eligible to obtain within 75 days of starting, a valid Certified Peer Specialist Credential from the Missouri Credentialing Board.
To ensure effective modeling and support during service delivery to clients, must demonstrate stability by having at least one year in personal recovery from mental illness and/or substance use disorder.
Must hold or obtain by start date, MO Class E Driver's License (Class D for IL Residents), and proof of continuous auto insurance. Must also meet CCC's Motor Vehicle Record standards policy and have reliable transportation.

Responsibilities

Share their personal experience with mental illness/co-occurring substance use and their own personal recovery experience; when clinically appropriate
Promote the idea and concept of recovery and serve as role model.
Interact directly with clients, both individually and as a group.
Help identify client's individual warning signs and help develop ways to prevent relapse in order to avoid hospitalizations.
Help clients develop insight into their illness and understand their experience with mental illness/co-occurring substance use.
Help clients in developing support systems and connect clients with peer support/self-help groups.
Assist clients in developing self-care skills to promote recovery (i.e., self-advocacy, coping, social, etc.).
Assist staff to understand recovery, the importance of recovery based services and the value of the experience lived by individuals with mental illness/co-occurring substance use.
Participate as a member of the clinical team.
Provide client's point of view at team meetings, treatment planning meetings, and psychiatric visits.
Document according to clinical policies and procedures, DMH, CARF, and any other federal or state program per agency standards.