What is a Peer Recovery Support Specialist?

Our Peer Recovery Support Specialists are people with lived experience who have been through situations similar to those they support. They have been successful in recovery and have firsthand knowledge of the healing process.  While a peer support specialist does not substitute or replace treatment with a healthcare provider when it is needed, they can provide a unique layer of support.
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Call to meet with a Peer Support Specialist.

​928.337.4000

What does a Peer Recovery Support Specialist do?

Recovery is a process that may include many types of support, including clinical treatment with a healthcare provider, social support, medication, peer support and self-help groups, and faith-based strategies.

Peer support specialists help with this process and provide other services, including reducing stigma, improving a person’s quality of life in recovery, and reducing the need for certain health services. 
The role or work of a peer support specialist may include:
  • ​Cultivating relationships built on trust, respect, empathy, mutual experience, and choice
  • Offering support through validation, encouragement, empowerment, and highlighting strengths 
  • Sharing their personal experience (when appropriate) to inspire hope
  • Recognizing a person's personal beliefs, cultural values, previous experiences, and individual needs
  • Providing education about recovery, advocating for oneself, and how to navigate treatment or the healthcare system
  • Educating the public or lawmakers
  • Assisting during crises by discussing warning signs, healthy coping, and sharing resources
  • Overseeing the work of other peer support specialists
  • Peer support services are often successful in addition to other professional mental health or medical services.
SAMHSA's Five Competencies of a Peer Recovery Support Specialist
Recovery-oriented and empowers people to choose recovery and find meaning and purpose throughout the process
Person-centered by celebrating a person's strengths and focusing on individual needs and goals
Voluntary and prioritizes autonomy, choice, and collaboration, allowing a person to play an important role in their recovery
Relationship-focused by creating a foundation established on respect, trust, mutuality, and lived experience
Trauma-informed through emphasizing physical, emotional, and psychological safety
Peer Support Settings
Peer support specialists work with people in various settings, including individually, in groups, face-to-face, through text or over the phone, and online.
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Meet our 
Peer Support Specialists
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Kortney Carter
Director of Recovery programs
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Randi Norton
Director of reentry programs