A Recovery Support Specialist and Social Work student in the state of Connecticut trying to aid in people's recovery journeys and play my part in the mental health field. ❤️🩹🦋
1:1 Peer Recovery Support Sessions
Don't accept being the passenger in your own recovery, take the wheel and take the route you need to heal!
Hello! Are you a younger person in recovery- whether its from an eating disorder, anxiety, depression, trauma, or even just the general stress of everyday life? Well, the good news is that you're not alone! If you are looking for someone who truly "gets it", you are in the right place.
I am a young adult who has been in recovery for many years, from an eating disorder, mental health struggles, and various forms of trauma. I have been involved in many levels of care in the mental health system- inpatient, IOP, PHP, outpatient, medication management, etc. Been there, done that, at least a handful of times. And while clinical support can be helpful for some people when it is human-centered, consensual, and collaborative, sometimes prescriptions that you can't pronounce or piles of therapy options just aren't what someone needs. Sometimes, people need compassion, a warm smile, and a person who truly knows what it is like to be in recovery. That's where peer recovery support specialists like myself come in!
Scroll more to learn more about what peer support is(and what it isn't), how it helps, my certification and educational background, and what I can offer during support sessions!
Intentional and Professional Peer Support
Recovery is possible!
Peer support, when done intentionally and in a professional manner, is a form of support between two or more individuals in recovery from similar challenges(ex. addiction, mental health struggles, trauma, chronic illness, etc). Typically, with professional and intentional peer support, one individual is trained to use their lived experience as a way to help others going through similar experiences, by helping them be in the driver's seat of their recovery and healing, providing emotional support and mutuality, connecting individuals to resources that they may need, advocating for the full inclusion of individuals in their communities, creating recovery plans, utilizing non-clinical holistic interventions, fostering hope, and taking a look at all the multifaceted factors in someone's life- centering the humanness in them, not the struggle or diagnosis.
Many states have their own certification policies for peer supporters! For example, my state(CT) has three different options for where to become certified, and our equivalents to a peer support specialist are recovery coaches and recovery support specialists! All states are different, but obtaining a certification almost always involves taking courses or classes, a certification exam, and a certain amount of continuing education units every year in order to keep up to date with the newest information in the field and to maintain the certification.
The primary difference between peer support, and other forms of support such as therapy, psychiatry, or rehab, is that peer support is a non-clinical(meaning that we do not "treat" individuals, but rather support them through treatment and recovery) service that centers around mutuality, individual autonomy, and lived experience. Of course, other mental health professionals may disclose their own histories depending on their work policies and the comfort of themselves and their clients, but peer support is unique because sharing stories and fostering hope is the foundation of the role, as is helping others in recovery find their voice and autonomy in the treatment system. Often, clinical services are one-sided, treatment focused rather than human focused, coercive, culturally unaware, institutional, and are built on the foundation of hierarchical power struggles between clients and providers. Peer support works to liberate individuals in recovery from this power struggle- here, the relationship is not client and providers, but rather one between two people in recovery. While somethings may be unavoidable, such as one person usually getting paid for the support they are providing and the certification they hold, peer support eliminates the social divide that clinical care often generates. Of course, not all clinical providers enable the hierarchy, but many do, especially when they work for a large system or organization(think inpatient hospitals, prisons, rehab centers, insurance agencies, etc).
Peer Recovery Support Sessions with me!
Come as you are, and expect to be valued, listened to, and supported as we walk the path to recovery together.
Areas I Can Support:
Peer support is centered around mutuality, therefore, the things that I can offer support for are based on my own experiences as well as experiences of those closest to me, who I have experience supporting
Eating Disorder RECOVERY, as well as general body image and self-esteem struggles
Anxiety of all forms, including social, separation, and generalized, as well as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and struggles related to it
Coping with panic attacks
Healing from trauma/post traumatic stress disorder/complex post traumatic stress disorder, as well as coping with challenges related to trauma, such as sleep issues and dissociation
Mood disorders, especially forms of unipolar depression or depression related to the menstrual cycle(PMS/PMDD)
Challenging Neurodivergent(autism, ADHD, etc) experiences, such as ableism, bullying, finding employment or receiving disability benefits, barriers to proper diagnosis, etc
Chronic health concerns or general physical well-being
Those who support loved ones with mental health challenges
College students experiencing stress or burnout
Grief, especially involving suicide
Those dealing with life changes such as breakups, moving, divorce, losing a job, etc
General life stressors
LGBTQ+ individuals
Christians looking for a faith-based peer to peer relationship
Young adults ages 18-29, but a little past this age is still welcome, I just happen to fall into the young adult category!
What I Can Offer in Sessions:
Emotional support, validation, and encouragement
Sharing my lived experience when it is relevant
Discovering and practicing coping skills that you can use in different situations and settings
Helping you get connected to resources
Advocating(with your consent) for you in treatment, practicing skills to self-advocate
Exploring treatment options in a way that allows you to be the expert in your recovery
Creative expressions such as writing, music, painting, drawing, vision boarding
Support during meal times for those in ED recovery
Body doubling
Faith based support
Exploring holistic paths to healing such as yoga, mediation, essential oils, sound healing, animal assisted activities
Wellness recovery action planning
Crisis planning that allows you to remain in control of your treatment
Finding support groups
Motivational interviewing
SMART goal setting
My Education, Certification, and Experience
Trust me, I really do get it
From the age of fourteen, the human mind and experience has always been fascinating to me. Maybe it was the undiagnosed autism at the time, or the horrifically painful trauma induced depression that had me at more therapy appointments than sleepovers with friends. Regardless, I have known from a young age that I wanted to help people in the future. People like me, who time and time again have been subjected to trauma, cruelty, dehumanization, and belittlement, purely on the basis of having a diagnosed disability or mental health condition. I know first-hand what it's like, to have psychologists look you in the eyes and tell you that you aren't trying enough, that you won't go anywhere in life. I know all too well the look nurses give when they see you admitted inpatient for the fourth time, and the grievance in the therapist's voice when you are recommended to go back to IOP or PHP. I know what it's like to lose friends, to have them whisper cruel things behind your back, then give you looks of pity and disgust because of your condition(s). I know the fear of telling anyone that you're struggling, afraid of the possibility that you may be hospitalized against your will. I know how it feels to be gone from school for months while in recovery, and teachers not being able to look you in the eyes, while the student with pneumonia is welcomed back with open arms and a bright smile. More than anything, I know what it is likely to feel completely helpless, stuck, alone, and worst of all, hopeless, fighting the demons in your mind that no one can see, always being troubled by the ghosts of the past.
When I think of six year old me, who had their innocence stolen from her and had no ability to tell another soul, or fifteen years old me, freshman in high school getting hospitalized for the first time, or even seventeen year old me, getting an Anorexia diagnosis a few years too late- all I wish is that those versions of me had someone who understood the pain they were in, not in a clinical way, but in a way where I could've simply connected with another person who could've said "you aren't alone". Ever since I started my healing and recovery journey, I have been stubbornly dead-set on becoming the person I have needed so many times in the past. My personal motto is that if even one person in this whole world could be given hope by my story, and they walk away feeling a little less alone, more confident to begin their healing journey too, then I believe that everything, and I do mean everything, that I have gone through has been worth it. The trauma and hardship has been painful to say at the very least, but the strength and compassion that it has planted in me has also made it a somberly beautiful path to reach out and help others.
In November of 2022, I officially passed my exam after 80+ hours of classes, training, homework, networking, and learning, and was officially certified as a Recovery Support Specialist (also known to some as a peer counselor, peer supporter, or recovery coach). Since then, I have completed many hours of continuing education, to keep up to date with new information, and to continually learn things that can expand my skills as a RSS while working with clients/peers. Some training topics I have focused on include- LGBTQ+ care, trauma informed support, eating disorders and body liberation, harm reduction, and holistic healing tools. Currently, I am doing my own research and learning on Wellness Recovery Action Planning, and I hope to attend more training on this, and utilize it with clients.
I have experience supporting individuals with disabilities, children with behavioral challenges and trauma, and those who are LGBTQ+ as the president of my campuses pride club, which functions much like a peer support group. I used to run a non-profit called Healing Hands, but I have since stopped running it due to now being a full-time social work student who is looking to advance their career inn the mental health/human services field. I have worked with individuals facing food insecurity, homelessness, mental illness, addiction, disability, chronic illness, grief, and more through the non-profit, making it a very humbling and valuable experience that no doubt will continue to influence my career. I also have worked in my campuses behavioral health center, and have multiple volunteer experiences under my belt.
I am also a social work major, and I hope to one day combine therapy with peer support in order to provide more clinical services that center around non-hierarchical client relationships, lived experience, and client autonomy in all facets of their treatment.
How To Book a Support Session
Let's Work Together!
In order to book a session, you must sign up on Straight Up Care as a USER. Afterwards, you can click on this link: https://straightupcare.org/consultant-profile/5411179 or search up my name on the directory on either straightupcare.org or straightupcare.com. Sessions happen through .org, and it is recommended to download the Straight Up Care app.
Once I have confirmed and approved your booking, I will reach out personally to follow up with next steps(such as a few forms to complete, and send you information on how your information is protected by HIPPA, what I am mandated to report following the guidelines of my certification, etc). At this time, sessions are 30 minutes long, and can be done via chat($5), audio($10), or video($15).
