by Guest | Dec 8, 2021 | Being Well
What is a Peer Support Specialist?
In a nutshell, a Peer Support Specialist helps someone move away from fear and toward hope. I try to empower people in their recovery through these shifts, establishing and reinforcing a trusting connection with them. The connection is genuine and plays a big role in the specialist’s ability to understand the story the client tells of themselves and of their addiction. A peer support specialist walks the line next to someone else, empowering along the path toward recovery. We explore their plans of recovery and support them in realizing their hopes and dreams. Sharing my lived experience is key in the peer support setting through which I serve people. I help by sharing hope and letting them know that their past does not have to define their future. Another important aspect of the Intentional Peer Support system is the conversation that is shared and the knowing that comes out of it. The conversation helps create the momentum of moving towards goals, moving towards hope. In my work, I help people keep their dreams alive by reminding them of what can be. “What are your hopes and dreams? What is your path to recovery?” I am also a recovery mentor, and with the clients’ permission, I can shift gears and suggest ideas while sharing more of my lived experience on how I’ve navigated recovery.
What attracted you to this work?
What attracted me to this work is how it offers me to give back to the community. I thought that because my addiction affected the community, my recovery should also have an effect – this time a positive one. Before helping others, I was struggling with addiction myself for 30+ years. I have been clean now for 14 years. I have been at the Tillamook Family Counseling Center for 5 years, where I was recruited by a friend as the first peer support specialist serving the county at this agency.
How do you engage with clients?
When I meet with someone for the first time I ask, “what happened?” I want to know where they grew up, what it was like for them, their hobbies, what was going on when they first started using, and what things are like for them today. It gives me a glimpse of what I’m working with and what I can relate to. For example, if I am speaking with someone about their addiction and they have shared that one of their triggers is related to a difficult relationship in their life, I can follow up and ask the question, “what if you didn’t have that trigger?” Prior to coming to the counseling center I would ask people I was sponsoring in the Narcotics Anonymous program, “What’s wrong?”, and I learned that kind of question isn’t as helpful as it may seem. A more effective question to ask people is, “What happened?” The question “What’s wrong?” sets a negative tone, asking “What happened” and learning from their answer opens the door to a conversation. One of the biggest barriers people have in my experience is that they feel their experience defines them, which makes it more difficult to see the new and positive possibilities that exist for them.
What do you wish people knew about substance disorder?
Being trauma informed is key when understanding the “why” of addiction and helps people connect the dots of what they want.
To reach Doug, you can contact the Tillamook Family Counseling Center at 503-842-8201 or https://tfcc.org/ .
AUTHOR: Brett Buesnel, AmeriCorps VISTA at Tillamook County Community Health Center
For more local health and wellness information, follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
by Guest | Oct 20, 2021 | Being Well
It is estimated that 1,700 people in Tillamook County live with opioid use disorder. That person can be our neighbor, our coworker, or our family. Each of us deserve the chance to live a fulfilling life which is why the Tillamook Family Counseling Center offers a prime + peer support program free of service for any community members who may need support with substance use. AmeriCorps VISTA, Brett Buesnel, recently met with peer support specialist, Jennifer Barksdale, about her experience as a peer support specialist here in Tillamook County:
What is a peer support specialist?
As a peer support specialist, I work with the IPS model (intentional peer support). The IPS approach is about building a relationship with the individual and working to turn fear into hope.
The 4 principles of the IPS model are Connection (build partnership), World View (understand their world view and share your own), Mutuality (viewing ourselves in the context of mutually accountable relationships and communities), Moving Towards (move towards what the person wants for their life and the safest situation they are open to)
What drew you to this work?
My life has had its peaks and valleys. I had my own business in San Francisco for 15 years and was also addicted to heroin at that time. I wasn’t able to imagine before getting clean that my life could be what it is today. Addiction can be deadly and staying alive long enough to get to see recovery and the positive potential life has to offer is not guaranteed. I want to help other people live long enough to see that potential for themselves.
What is your favorite part of being a peer support specialist?
It has given perspective that has helped make me less judgmental of my own recovery. I have been through a lot of hard times, as a peer support specialist those experiences can be shared to create a real connection with people who are going through hard times themselves. I can show people how you can make it through hard times and not get high.
What is the most challenging aspect of what you do?
As addicts, people only have moments of clarity when they have the capacity to get help. Unfortunately, it can be a challenge to connect people with the help they are seeking in those sometimes small windows of time. The length of a weekend can be too long in some cases to connect people with the services they need.
What do you wish people knew about substance use disorder?
There is a common misconception that you can love someone out of addiction, or their love for a child or partner will be enough to get them into recovery. It’s a sad to say, but for many people it isn’t something that works. In order for someone to get clean, they need to want it for themselves.
How can people access this support at the Tillamook Family Counseling Center?
The work I do at TFCC is Prime Plus Peer Project. To get access to Prime Plus all they need to do is make a call, they do not have to be a client of TFCC. Prime Plus is an immediate service for support, no referrals necessary. The other path at TFCC is to come in for an assessment with a clinician.
What other community resources exist?
The OurTillamook.org website has lots of addiction support information. There are also AA/NA meetings at the Serenity Club that people can check out.
Is there anything that we didn’t cover that you would like to share?
One of the most important things about peer support is that it exists outside of a traditional clinical approach. The peer-peer connection meets folks where they are, more as a supportive friend role to listen and provide support through many of life’s challenges that can get in the way of recovery. The Intentional Peer Support model is a great way to meet folks where they are in their recovery.
If you would like to contact Jennifer for support, she can be reached at 503-812-8412. For more information about the prime + program in Tillamook County, visit https://ourtillamook.org/prime-peer-support/
AUTHOR: Brett Buesnel, AmeriCorps VISTA at Tillamook County Community Health Center
For more local health and wellness information, follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
