Peer support specialists may be one of the oldest roles in addiction counseling. The natural instincts of anyone who has come out on the other side of substance abuse has always been to turn the experience into something meaningful by helping others through it.
You see it every day in every kind of human suffering: people who have experienced it are the first to reach out and offer help.
Peer support is also a position that is finding new life as research and evidence-based practices start to show its worth. Having an experienced, empathetic guide on your trip to recovery is recognized as being one of the keys to beating even the worst substance use disorders (SUD).
As a vital link between clinical SUD counselors and patients, peer support specialists are finding themselves in high demand in nearly every state. They deal with every kind of addiction and co-occuring mental health issue. And they have a fast path to certification that makes it an easy bridge back to employment, self-respect, and a way to contribute to the community that recovered SUD patients may be seeking.
If you have that special qualification and an urge to give back to the community, then a peer support specialist job may be just the thing.
What Does a Peer Support Specialist Do?
Peer support specialists have a laundry list of 12 core competencies that they are expected to master and use in addiction recovery programs. But what it all comes down to is offering both empathy and practical support to patients going through substance abuse treatment and counseling.
They are also expected to act as role models. As anyone who has gone through any kind of addiction knows, it can be almost impossible sometimes to imagine a different life for yourself. But peer support specialists are living proof that it is possible, and that life is a whole lot better on the other side.
One thing that keeps the work interesting, though, is that every patient needs something different. Peer support specialists know that real recovery can only come from inside. That makes every journey unique. They have to get to know patients and understand how best to support each of them as individuals.
That may come through basic, hands-on work, such as helping them fill out paperwork needed for healthcare or housing assistance. It may take the shape of long, in-depth conversations, where you draw on your own experiences to draw parallels, provide hope, and offer insight. It can be implementing recovery plans designed by clinical SUD counselors and reporting back on progress and challenges.
In every case, it’s a job that relies on your own experiences and insights as someone who has gone through recovery. With more information, more empathy, and more first-hand experience, it’s a way to give back and move others forward.
A Close-up Look at a Peer Support Specialist Job Description
Peer support specialist jobs may also be advertised under titles like:
- Peer Recovery Support Specialist
- Certified Recovery Support Specialist
- Peer and Family Specialist
- Peer Recovery Coach
- Peer Recovery Mentor
It’s usually the word peer in the title that will clue you in to these jobs. They may or may not be specific to substance abuse counseling.
The concept of peer support also exists in mental and other behavioral health fields, so be sure that the jobs you are looking at are specific to addiction counseling.
You will find that the job descriptions for these roles include not just direct work with clients and their family members, but plenty of collaboration with other counselors and case managers.
Advocacy and resource referrals are also common tasks. When patients can’t speak up for themselves, peer support specialists will. They work with community agencies to get the support their patients need, and they go to bat for them with families, service providers, and employers to make sure they get a fair shake.
You may also be responsible for crisis management, as a first responder to patients in danger of relapse. Other positions may require that you monitor groups on-site in recovery facilities. These often come with basic housekeeping and administrative tasks related to running the facility.
Where To Find Peer Recovery Specialist Jobs?
The majority of peer support specialist jobs are with behavioral health treatment organizations or healthcare facilities. These can be either non-profit or for-profit. Some government agencies also hire peer support roles, like VA peer support specialists.
Typically, they will be aimed at a specific kind of substance use disorder or type of treatment. So you will see opportunities advertised for:
- Outpatient rehabilitation centers
- Inpatient treatment clinics
- Healthcare office and hospitals
- Homeless outreach organizations
- Skilled nursing facilities
- Residential treatment facilities
Peer support specialist employment and salary numbers are tough to tease out from some of the labels that the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses for them. But they are classified in a group that should enjoy faster than average job growth across the next decade. An estimated average annual salary for the position is $44,240. That’s assuming a full-time position, though many peer support specialist jobs are part-time.
Peer Recovery Specialist Jobs Can Lead to Longer Careers in Substance Abuse Counseling
Peer support specialists aren’t on the official SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) career ladder for the field of substance use disorders. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good starting point toward a more advanced position in treating substance abuse, though.
Plenty of recovering SUD patients get a start in peer support and find they have a talent for helping others. It’s not unusual to see them going back to school to get the necessary degree and pass the tests to become fully licensed substance use disorder counselors.
At the same time, it’s not a role that necessarily requires going any further. By definition, peer support specialists have already been through the whirlwind of the addiction and recovery process. Many of them simply carve out some portion of their time and energy to help others through in the best way they can, with support and empathy. They may have other full-time positions and lives entirely apart from that—as many successfully recovered patients do.
Remote Peer Support Specialist Jobs Bring Old Concepts Into New Uses
For jobs that are all about making an emotional connection, it might seem surprising that remote peer recovery specialists are a thing. But in fact, this role has been around for a long time.
To understand why, all you have to do is think back a bit to when telephones—not smartphones—ruled the world. The hotline to get help for many people in trouble wasn’t clicking through to a Google search; it was dialing a number to talk to some caring stranger in a moment of crisis.
Those crisis hotlines still exist, joined by real-time web chats and even video calls. And peer support specialists are often the friendly voice you find on the other end of those outreach efforts.
These positions tend to be somewhat different from typical peer recovery specialist jobs. You are likely to perform more crisis management and engage in less long-term treatment. You might be asked to conduct more assessment and take on less counseling. Referrals to the appropriate specialists for care will be more likely than taking on tasks yourself.
For many peer support specialists, though, this is a fine way to get engaged again in the substance abuse counseling world. Remote work allows you to better keep a professional distance. It’s also easy to tailor to your availability and other life obligations.
How To Qualify for Certified Peer Support Specialist Jobs
Forty-seven states have credentialed roles for peer support specialists. That’s more than any other single kind of substance abuse counseling position. The exact steps required to become a peer support specialist will vary, but most will involve similar kinds of qualifications.
That certification or registration process is a key both to ensuring qualified counseling for patients and for protecting peer counselors themselves. After all, as someone recovering from a substance use disorder themselves, many people eligible to become peer counselors have an elevated risk of issues such as:
- Relapse
- Secondary trauma
- Burnout
- Depression
- Anxiety
Requiring standard training and professional qualifications helps avoid such issues.
Still, the requirements for peer recovery certification in most states are straightforward and easy to fulfill:
- Have experienced, either personally or in someone close to you, a substance use disorder
- Complete between 40 and 100 education hours in specific coursework in substance abuse and behavioral health treatment
- Pass a standardized examination testing your knowledge and skills
- Accumulate around 500 hours of professional practice and 25 hours of supervision in peer support practice
The exact requirements will vary from state to state, with some requiring more practice hours and some requiring none at all. A handful of states also issue credentials without any examination.
The credentials have to be renewed, usually every two years, and you will have to undergo a specific amount of continuing education hours to get that renewal, just like other kinds of SUD counselors.
Once you’re in the door, however, you’ll find that working as a certified peer support specialist is rewarding and inspiring. Keeping up with the current trends and treatments is something you’ll look forward to, not suffer through. And your patients will benefit from both your experience and knowledge as you build your skills over time.