Peer Support programs are a unique mental health service in that they connect individuals with someone who draws from their own experience with mental health recovery. A Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) is someone who has lived experience with mental health services and is willing to share their story in support of another individual.
Our Certified Peer Specialist Coordinator, Lydia Schooley, joined Indian Creek Foundation in 2008 in our Transitional Employment services. She took on her current role after completing the Peer Support Specialist Training program in 2016. She is passionate about the powerful role Peer Support plays in the lives of the individuals we serve.
What are Peer Support Services?
Peer Support is a program that give individuals an opportunity to work on their mental health recovery goals with a specially trained professional who models “Recovery in Action.” The word “recovery” has a special meaning in the Peer Support world. Lydia explains recovery as “living well with mental illness.” This means that symptoms of the mental illness may or may not go away, but that the individual achieves the level of wellness that they have defined for themselves.
Peer Support programs come in many different forms. The common factor in all of them is that there must be a mental health component. Some programs focus on a second issue that is highly integrated with the individual’s mental health. These include substance abuse, housing insecurity, incarceration, etc. ICF’s Peer Support program partners with participants who have an Intellectual or Developmental Disability (I/DD) diagnosis that co-occurs with their mental health diagnosis.
Certified Peer Specialists who work at Indian Creek might or might not have a dual diagnosis. What they all commonly recognize, though, is that individuals with I/DD are all too often underserved with mental health support. A CPS at Indian Creek will have a heart for this work because they are part of the very same community – one that is labeled “disabled” (whether for mental, intellectual, or physical reasons) by the medical community and society. Indian Creek is committed to caring for the mental health needs of the individuals we serve (and employ!) in the same way we care for their medical needs. Individuals who qualify for the Indian Creek Peer Support program are highly vulnerable to human, social, and civil rights violations. Therefore, a CPS who joins our team is an ally to the I/DD community who has a story that they are willing to share, and a desire to advocate for the rights of the individuals they serve.
True Connection to the Mission
Lydia was interested in working with individuals with disabilities from a young age. She was intrigued by a classmate’s American Sign Language interpreter and wanted to learn more. She also spent much of her childhood in juvenile group home settings, where her parents worked as house parents. She entered the field professionally by working in a residential school in Alabama where she supported boys between ages 3 and 10. When she moved to Pennsylvania, she began looking for an opportunity to serve the adults who graduated from those kinds of residential programs.
From the very moment she entered Indian Creek’s Souderton campus, she knew she had found the right fit for her career. She could tell that ICF had an environment conducive to serving the people within its mission. When she met the first few people she would later get to know very well, she had a moment of intimidation. The individuals she would be serving were older than her. She suddenly felt very young, and she questioned if she had the maturity to effectively teach and train these individuals with job skills.
Right then, a very interesting (yet common to our experience here) thing happened. Carole Menser, one of the longest residents at Indian Creek, locked eyes with Lydia and said, “Oh good, you’re here now.” In that moment, Lydia knew that this was the place for her. Carole’s natural acceptance put Lydia’s insecurities to rest and reassured her that Indian Creek was a place where she had permission to learn and grow. Specifically, she intuitively understood that Carole and the others in the program would teach her to be what they needed her to be while she taught them useful job skills.
Beginning in ICF’s Transitional Employment program, Lydia continually advanced into new roles. Professional development is encouraged at ICF, and employees are often able to deepen their skills and grow as leaders. She eventually became a supervisor in ICF Solutions, in which she secured the contracts that our sheltered workshop employees received from both local and national businesses. Knowing just how capable the workshop employees were, she changed the perspective of why businesses should want to work with Indian Creek. The idea was no longer to provide work for individuals as an act of charity, but rather to choose ICF Solutions because they did excellent, high-quality work.
The result was that ICF Solutions began getting higher paying contracts. An additional result was that individuals who were working out in the community through Transitional Employment started making better wages as well. These benefits continued as Lydia became the Day Program Coordinator, where she focused on aspects of employment in partnership with two other Coordinators. Lydia was proud of the program and its success as a respected and valuable business.
Opportunity in the Face of Difficulty
Difficult, and sometimes tragic, medical events are an unfortunate reality for ICF. Our participants are often medically fragile, which means situations can escalate quickly. Following a particularly traumatic incident in the Day Program, Lydia immediately saw to the mental health needs of her staff and the program participants. She ensured that they had counseling resources and any support they needed. However, she put aside her own need for support and counseling, feeling as though she should be the one to bear her own burden.
With past trauma memories being triggered by those difficult circumstances, Lydia buried herself in work and continuing education, avoiding time at home. When she did finally go home, she experienced sleeplessness and engaged in unhealthy coping strategies like hoarding, alcoholism, and isolation. In the meantime, she was losing sight of what drove her to be in the I/DD field. She had trouble focusing, experienced panic and fear, and felt irritable on a regular basis. As she approached total burnout, a colleague happened to recognize her deep need for support. That interaction provided the first step to receiving the right mental health services and getting back to finding her passion.
Very shortly after that, a co-worker encouraged Lydia to pursue Peer Support certification. Realizing she only knew the basics about the program, she took that opportunity to learn more. As she studied what Peer Support means, she began to feel resuscitated. She quickly remembered her overriding goal to show the world just how much people with disabilities can do. She saw that she could be highly effective in that goal by becoming a CPS.
Although the CPS certification course is just two weeks long, those two weeks are some of the most immersive time a person can spend in learning the work while actively doing it. Lydia entered her training program and immediately felt like she had come home. She was among people who were very much like her in the internal sense of mind and spirit. As she worked with her cohorts, she felt all barriers melt away. Together, they supported one another, built vital skills for Peer Support, and empowered each other to be everything they are meant to be. She left the program feeling completely liberated and ready to provide others with the same opportunity.
Peer Support Offers Common Bond Experiences
It is common for many individuals who complete Peer Support certification to look for opportunities to work with people who have a very similar story to their own. For Lydia, completing the certification further cemented her commitment to individuals with I/DD. She notes that there is a shared history between the mental health and I/DD communities in that people were often relegated to the fringes of mainstream society by governments and social models of “support.” Individuals in both populations were often institutionalized against their will and were routinely harmed and abused.
Some state-run institutions are still running today, although they are more heavily regulated. But an unfortunate mindset continues to marginalize people with mental health and/or I/DD diagnoses. This is what motivates Peer Support professionals like Lydia to fight for person-centered and recovery-oriented resources that allow individuals to assert agency over their own lives.
Lydia entered her CPS position at Indian Creek with a renewed motivation to integrate people with co-occurring diagnoses into their communities. As the current Coordinator of this program, she prioritizes safety and quality for every person they serve. But what she values most is creating relationships built on mutuality and reciprocity. This means that CPS professionals always take their time to make sure their peers are working towards their goals at the right pace for their own wellness, promoting self-determination and acknowledging that peers are the experts on themselves. It also means that they will always advocate for their peers to ensure their rights and dignity are protected at all times. These values follow the Peer Support mission statement that says, “Recovery is remembering who you are and using your strengths to become all that you were meant to be.”
The current Peer Support staff members all have experienced institutional harm, which gives them a shared perspective with the individuals they serve. For many program participants, this is the first time they have engaged with a service provider who has had similar experiences to their own. The CPS professionals at ICF know what it is like to navigate systems that focus on managing symptoms and safety rather than promoting autonomy, strength, and resourcefulness. They know what it is like to protect and navigate their recovery in the midst of compounding challenges just like the ones their peers face every day. CPS professionals hold hope for their peers, shine a light on their strengths, aid in self-advocacy, bridge resource gaps, and support inner healing as peers follow their passion and potential to become all that they are meant to be.
Due to the structure Lydia has built into the Peer Support program, the individuals ICF serves are able to build trusting and positive relationships that extend beyond their CPS and into their full support network, which includes service providers, community, family, and friends. Recovery is not just possible; it is probable and likely. Lydia identifies strongly with Indian Creek’s mission of Serving Every ONE, because serving just one person at a time always ripples out to positively touch the lives of others.
Who Can Receive Peer Support from Indian Creek Foundation?
As a licensed provider of Peer Support services, Indian Creek Foundation accepts qualified individuals into the program. Our program requires a dual diagnosis of mental illness and I/DD.
Individuals who qualify for Peer Support can remain in the program as long as they are working toward a self-identified recovery goal. Goals can be highly subjective, but they are always measurable in some way that relates to mental health recovery. Generally, an individual will be discharged once they feel as though they have the tools, education, and wellness to navigate their life successfully. For many peers, this will still take place in a supported living arrangement such as a group home. The difference following Peer Support is that they usually have enhanced autonomy and self-advocacy abilities to accomplish their personal goals and pursue more independent or community activities. Peer Support begins as an intervention to help people identify their goals for recovery, and it transfers into more of an advocacy role as the individual achieves those goals.
Who Should Become a Certified Peer Specialist?
Individuals who have lived experience with mental health recovery and who want to share that experience to support others in recovery are potential candidates for Peer Specialist certification. At Indian Creek, we encourage those who are considering this field to join us as a Peer Support Intern first.
This internship program prepares individuals for the credentialing program while giving them a firsthand look into the work of Peer Support. Working as a CPS is difficult. Professionals will confront their own mental health past and present on a daily basis, telling and re-telling their story many times. They will have to cooperate with others in a high trust, vulnerable environment while maintaining composure and focusing on their peer’s goals. They will also need to navigate the necessary regulations and documentation requirements involved with human services work. All of that, and they often face stigma for publicly discussing their mental health history.
At Indian Creek, interns receive 200 hours of field experience that will help them make a fully informed decision about entering the credentialing program. Should they move forward into the peer workforce, they will be far more prepared to transition into their career. While working as a CPS can be challenging, it is also deeply rewarding. Certified Peer Specialists and interns who come to work at Indian Creek Foundation receive training and support as they grow their expertise related to their own personal mental health and wellness. In addition to providing quality peer services, they will gain a comprehensive education on systems navigation specific to I/DD and documentation standards in the field.
The work culture at ICF is designed to break down the stigmas surrounding mental health recovery and the I/DD community. A CPS at ICF will be encouraged to confidently share their story, knowing that it may encourage or inspire another person. Our program recognizes the strength, resourcefulness, and life skills that Peer Specialists acquire through their experience. We see them as ambassadors of mental wellness because they are people who are willing to be transparent about their life challenges for the purpose of serving others. They have transformed their pain into power and purpose, living their recovery out loud for all to see. This provides hope for others that recovery is not only possible; it is inevitable. We are extremely grateful for the professionals who choose to serve the ONE, and the many, through Peer Support Services.
To learn more about becoming a Peer Support Intern or Certified Peer Specialist, please contact Lydia Schooley at 267-203-1500 ext. 206 or lschooley@indcreek.org.