The Network Approach to Peer Support

The Network is successful in offering supports by utilizing Peer best practices: meeting people where they are in the community, implementing peer-informed intervention techniques, and using the three principles of peer support, as developed by one of our programs, BestNow! - 

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1. The Power of Mutuality

  • Each individual is assumed to have the best knowledge about themselves 

  • People who receive peer support guide their own services 

  • Peers are given the freedom and responsibility to communicate what works best for them 

 

2. The Power of People Finding Their Own Solutions 

  • Peer Support workers' role is not to "fix: the problems our Peers are facing 

  • Peer Support workers are there to listen and let our Peers know that we believe in them 

 

3. ​The Power of "Being With" 

  • Just being in the present with a person builds trust 

  • Peer Support workers accept participants for who they are and honor the choices they make 

Why Peer Support?
Information is taken from "Value of Peer Support", 2017,  SAMHSA ​ More about the Value of Peer Support can be found here

What is Peer Support?

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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 is 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 (Mead & McNeil, 2006). 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

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What Does A Peer Support Worker Do?

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A peer support worker is someone with the lived experience of recovery from a  mental health condition, substance use disorder, or both. They provide support to others experiencing similar challenges. They provide non-­‐clinical, strengths-­‐based support and are “experientially credentialed” by their own recovery journey (Davidson, et al., 1999).

​3238 Adeline Street, Berkeley, CA 94703  510.652.7451     info@acnetmhc.org

Want to become a Peer Support Worker?

Join the free BestNow! training program today!​

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One of The Network's five programs, BestNow!, offers a comprehensive free Peer Support Specialist training program. Our Peer Support Specialist 80-hour training program will enable you to be ready to become certified as a Peer Support Specialist in the state of California. 

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BestNow! supports folx with lived mental health and/or substance use challenges to empower themselves to join the behavioral health system as professionals, using their personal experience and training to support others in their recovery and wellness. 

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In the BestNow! training, participants will learn to engage with our Peer values, including meeting each person where they are; Using our personal experiences to support our peers; And encouraging individuals to self-advocate and find their own solutions. 

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To apply to BestNow's Peer Specialist Training program, click here.

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