How it works
Peer Support Services in Spokane
Supporting mental health and recovery is about more than just connecting to clinical providers. Revive Spokane’s peer support specialists have lived experience with overcoming adversity related to mental illness, addiction, incarceration, homelessness and trauma. Working with someone who has walked a mile in your shoes and understands the hurdles, stressors and even shame of telling your story can be an incredibly powerful way of actualizing your resiliencies in recovery. It’s not easy to reach out and ask for help, especially when you fear that a “professional” may not truly understand. Our peers help you to feel safe, encouraged, understood and empowered as you restore your hope that life can get better. Recovery is not just possible; it’s probable. Our peers are here to support you by providing emotional support and advocacy with difficult meetings or events such as court hearings or medical appointments. Peers can help you learn skills to calm anxiety, increase physical activity, manage finances, get involved in more social groups or find housing and employment opportunities.
Revive also offers peer-led support groups and classes. These sessions foster community and provide safe spaces to discuss recovery.
If you are interested in working with one of our peer support specialists, but don’t quite feel ready to start a therapeutic process with a clinician, please contact us and call to request to start working with the peer of your choice.
What is Peer Support?
Peer support involves individuals with shared experiences helping each other. It focuses on mutual understanding, respect, and trust to promote healing and personal growth.
Definition and Purpose
Peer support is a proven method where people with personal experience of mental health challenges or substance abuse offer emotional and developmental help to others.
The goal of peer support is to empower individuals by connecting them with experts who truly understand their challenges. This approach helps create a safe space for recovery, fostering hope and encouraging healthy lives through shared experiences and mutual encouragement.
Benefits of Peer Support
Peer support offers shared experiences and understanding. Specialists with lived experience in mental illness, addiction, incarceration, and homelessness provide unique insight that traditional therapy may lack.
These connections build a sense of community and empathy crucial for recovery, especially in children, families, and the youth.
Non-judgmental support from peer counselors fosters empowerment and validation.
Peer support can help teach new coping strategies and skills to help individuals maintain and improve their well-being. This holistic approach cultivates powerful, healthy lives for those seeking emotional support through Revive Counseling’s peer services program.
How Peer Support Complements Therapy
Peer support provides unique, lived experiences that traditional therapy might overlook. These specialists have overcome mental illness, addiction, incarceration, and homelessness, allowing them to better relate and share their lived experience and education. This shared experience allows them to connect deeply with clients in ways that certified therapists may not be able to.
Combining peer counseling with traditional therapy or disorder services offers a holistic approach to mental health treatment. Therapists at Revive Counseling use their expertise to guide clients through techniques and strategies for improvement while peer counselors offer empathy and understanding from personal experience.
This dual approach fosters a comprehensive behavioral health support system catering specifically to each individual’s needs.