A Certified Peer Recovery Supporter (or Recovery Coach) is a person with significant lived experience, has overcome issues with chemical dependency, substance abuse, and/or mental illness.  This lived experience provides the Peer Supporter with a unique perspective and expertise.  The main goal of a Peer Supporter is to increase the "recovery capital" of the peer they are assisting.  Recovery capital is the sum of a person's internal and external assets that help the person sustain their recovery.  The Peer Supporter explores those pieces of personality and identity independent from the addict's identity, which can be reconstructed to create a recovery identity.  This journey constitutes an antidote for the problems that are barriers to long term recovery.  For example: insufficient motivation to change use, pressure to use within relationships, interpersonal conflict, and other components that are risks for relapse.

    Peer Supporters must receive specific training as identified by the appropriate authority of the state in which they wish to provide peer support services.  In the State of Ohio, the Peer Supporter must be accepted through an application process and complete pre-course work.  Then complete courses in a classroom setting with topics such as motivational interviewing, ethics and boundaries, cultural awareness, advocacy, stigma, communication, and self awareness.  After successfully completing testing and a BCI background check, they are awarded a certificate from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.  

Continuing education is required every two years.

  The Peer Supporter guides the person in recovery to identify their personal assets and obstacles in each of these areas, and articulates their personal goals in these areas. The Peer Supporter assists the person by identifying resources, learning and practicing new skills, encouraging continuing work toward the achievement of these goals, and monitoring progress towards the achievement of these goals.

    The roles performed by the Peer Supporter are:  outreach worker, motivator, confidant, truth-teller, role model, mentor, advocate, educator, resource identifier, resource broker and advocate, tour guide to the recovery community, lifestyle consultant, and friend.  A Peer Supporter is in no way a treatment provider, but may assist in identifying appropriate treatment resources and encouraging the person to remain active in their treatment plan.  In essence, complementing the "traditional" treatment process, they work collaboratively, always keeping your agency protocols at the forefront.  Peer Supporters are not sponsors, therapists, doctors, or clergy.    

The fact that the Peer Supporter fulfills all these roles is both a strength and a vulnerability. Let's Get Real, Inc. utilizes ongoing competency training, bi-weekly problem solving meetings, and peer development support administrative staff to assist Peer Supporters.  We offer continued guidance through experience as they serve those in search of recovery.  Peer Supporters from our agency are required to complete their application process by reviewing the Ohio Certified Peer Supporters Code of Ethics, Ohio Certified Peer Supporters Values and Ethics Wrap, confidentiality clarification, and documentation training.

We look forward to working alongside you!