COMING SOON: Building Social Support and Community Integration: A Pocket Resource for Peer Support Specialists
Mental illness usually disrupts our lives and our involvement in the community. Successful recovery involves building or rebuilding a full rewarding life, including connections with other people and successful engagement in roles like worker and student. That is not easy to do, and often does not happen without significant help. Peer Support Specialists have a key strategic role in supporting community integration and being part of interventions focused on building social support and community integration. This book is designed to be an easy-to-access resource for you to use as you work with clients seeking to expand their community integration and social support.
“Peers are the right people to help others with this part of recovery. This book provides all the tools a Peer Specialist needs to work successfully with people moving from treatment fo a full life where they don’t have time or need for treatment any more.”
Leading Peer Support and Self-Help Groups: A Pocket Resource for Peer Specialists and Support Group Facilitators: Second Edition
Peer support groups have exploded in popularity, as the public and the healthcare community recognize that they provide an effective complement to formal care, whether they focus on medical problems like diabetes or cancer, mental health problems like addiction or depression, or life challenges like grief or job stress. More Americans try to change their health behaviors through self-help/peer support groups than through any other form of professionally designed program. This second edition includes new material on strategies for leading groups and dealing effectively with common challenges that peer support group leaders routinely face.
“Lots of good ideas and advice on how to structure and lead such groups… really helpful. There is no need to reinvent the wheel” — Lucy Williams
“Exactly what I needed” — VJ Brideaux
Peer counseling is the most common intervention that Peer Support Specialists provide. It requires a specific set of skills that takes years to learn to provide well. This book is designed to be an easy-to-access resource that you can have with you and use while you are providing peer counseling. It is also designed to be a training resource for Peer Support Specialists and other peer counselors who are learning these core skills. It includes theory and background information, but it is designed to encourage you to practice and build your counseling skills. You’ll see exercises and questions to guide your efforts.
“Lots of people are doing peer counseling with little or no training. That is unfortunate, because we want to provide the best peer support we can, and peer counseling takes time to learn. This book provides a practical introduction to peer counseling, as well as useful examples and activities to help you learn how to do it well. I recommend it to all of the peer support providers I know.”
Including Peer Support Specialists in mental health care settings is one of the most important developments in recovery-oriented psychiatric care in the past 40 years. This pocket resource is designed to help Peer Specialists working with adults in mental health and/or substance use treatment successfully navigate what is often a complex and confusing clinical setting, while staying true to their unique role and identity.
“Great resource!!! I’ve been a peer specialist for over a year and had I ordered this sooner, I would’ve been more efficient in my role. I would definitely recommend to all peer counselors.” – Marquez Ohana
“This gem of a book is chock-full of hard won wisdom. It will be very helpful for peers (and also for those who are beginning to work in the mental health field”. – Dr. Frances Frankenburg, Author of Brain-Robbers: How Alcohol, Cocaine, Nicotine, and Opiates Have Changed Human History
Advocacy for consumers of mental health and social services is a key force moving these services toward truly patient-centered care. Patients, family members, Peer Support Specialists, clinical staff and quality assurance professionals all find themselves in the advocacy role at times, pushing for continued improvement in programs and organizations that patients rely on for their recovery. Unfortunately, few people have any formal training or education in how to advocate effectively.
This pocket resource is designed to provide easy access to the key strategies and information needed to help anyone finding themselves advocating for small or large changes in a healthcare or social service organization, to do so effectively.
“This book is one of the few resources available to help anyone serve as a successful advocate, whether it is a family member trying to get a change in a relative’s care, or a clinician or Peer Specialist pushing for major improvement in programs and organizations.”