Certified Peer Support
What is Veteran Peer Support?
SAMHSA describes peer support as “offering and receiving help, based on shared understanding, respect and mutual empowerment between people in similar situations.”
Peer support draws on sharing one’s lived experience to guide others as they set goals and work toward their full potential through mentoring, advocacy, and connections to community resources.
Lived and living experience is the foundation of peer support. This lived and living experience creates shared trust and connection between a peer support worker and a person in or seeking recovery.
Our peer specialists are certified by the Texas Certification Board and have extensive lived experience with military-related trauma.
What services do peer specialists provide?
Peer specialists can:
- Be role models for Veterans by sharing their own recovery stories
- Inspire hope and show that recovery is possible
- Work with other health care professionals on treatment teams to support Veterans’ goals
- Help Veterans grow and improve their problem-solving skills
- Help Veterans find strengths, resources and skills to reach their goals
- Guide Veterans to develop self-care skills to manage health conditions
- Inspire Veterans to successfully speak for themselves
- Talk with Veterans about VA and community resources
- Connect Veterans to resources when needed
- Help Veterans see their personal potential
- Help Veterans believe in their ability to reach wellness and personal goals