Certified Peer Specialists (CPS) are a key component of the services provided by Bay Cove’s Mental Health Services. “Peer Support” is a relationship between people with similar experiences.  It is a mutually valuable exchange of hope, encouragement, connection, understanding, information and assistance.  “I’ve been there” is one of the most validating and useful things a person can say or hear.  

Peer services are delivered by individuals who have experienced emotional distress, trauma and/or been given a mental health diagnosis. Our CPS have been trained to share their experiences of behavioral health services and supports, and of their mental health recovery, and to carry the message of hope. Peer services are available to all interested individuals receiving assistance through the Behavioral Health & Wellness Center.

At times, the CPS will accompany a Mobile Clinician on urgent and emergency calls. During and after the evaluation, the CPS will sit with you and talk through your symptoms and challenges. Or, they may sit in silence with you if that is what you need. The CPS may refer you to peer led services in the community, or they may share with you their own story, including the means through which they found their path to recovery.

Our CPS provide peer services foundationally based in the Intentional Peer Support (IPS) model, which focuses the work with individuals on the principles of Connection, Mutuality, World View and Moving Toward. Through our peers, individuals will have supported access to community-based peer support and recovery coaching, as well as access to wellness plan resources for individuals seeking to create a wellness plan. 

The “Moving Toward” aspect of IPS encourages individuals to consider what creating a wellness plan might look like for them. Individuals who choose to can work with a CPS to create a wellness plan, which utilizes an in-place support system to manage behavioral health distress before it becomes a crisis.