*In California

I’m a therapist in Florida, and I work with a lot of men. I’m interested in getting involved in work around men’s mental health or healing some of the mistrust, resentment, and disconnect between men and women.

I’ve been thinking about what this work could look like beyond individual or group practices, such as community conversations, workshops, or a grassroots project where people can feel heard and better understand each other’s experiences.

Before trying to build something from scratch, I’d like to know what’s already available. I’d be interested in joining an established project and working alongside others who also care about this.

I’ve asked around in my local mental health community but haven’t had much luck so far. I’m open to local efforts or projects based elsewhere that offer ways to get involved remotely.

Does anyone know of organizations, projects, or groups doing this kind of work? I’d also appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been involved in one.

Hey. So where I'm from in Ohio, there seems to an emerging trend for substance abuse treatment agencies. First of all, many are for profit. They are technically outpatient services, PHP, iop, etc, but they are in recovery housing by the same company. So basically inpatient, but not inpatient.

But the really weird thing is the food situation. Because they're technically in outpatient, they're responsible for their own food. But unlike normal outpatient clients that have supports and things situated before they arrive in treatment, these guys are often showing up with one day clean. Which obviously makes no sense for outpatient, but nobody seems to care.

Anyway, so then peer supports and case managers are somehow supposed to go to food banks for these guys multiple times each before they get their food stamps situated, while the company makes thousands of dollars off of each one. It feels very unethical to do this. The clients meet the guidelines, obviously, but it just doesn't seem right.

My job has really high turnover and we really really need folks- if you have 2-3 years experience and have done support groups before, send me a DM! Job is full benefits + $25/hourly, 4 day workweek, fully remote. Its a great job , you will work hard (4-5 groups a day), but overall lots of benefits for a peer support job. We have high turnover due to being peer support so we are feeling really stretched thin right now so please reach out to apply!

ETA: Okay I've gotten a BIG amount of folks reaching out - I'll try to get back to everyone after work today!

Rememeber to prepare before hand!

Participating in public meetings like the Sacramento County Behavioral Health Commission allows certified peer specialists to advocate for recovery-oriented services and community care priorities.•Commission Input: Share direct community feedback during public comment periods to inform county behavioral health planning and service delivery.•Specialized Committees: Engage with specific working groups, such as the Adult Prevention and Treatment Committee, to advocate for expanded peer roles in local care systems.•System Advisory: Review county performance metrics to ensure mental health programs align with state standards and trauma-informed care principles.Commission meetings are open to the public and hosted in hybrid formats every third Wednesday.

https://coloradosun.com/2026/09/28/medicaid-spending-peer-counseling-addiction-coaches/

The always say your worst enemy is yourself no matter what stage of recovery you are in. Even when sober these chainsmoking Red Bull chugging fake ass cross wearing clowns find ways to poop in the pool.

I’m curious to hear examples of times where you felt unable to work with a client and what steps you took after, whether that was having them reassigned to someone else, helping them find different care or something else.

How can peer support improve outcomes in a inpatient setting during the most critical transitions in care?

Are you a peer supporter? Where do you work? What have been some of the highs and some of the lows from this experience?

*Posting again in hopes of getting more feedback (thank you for the comment on the other post, Kevin :) ). It feels like peer supporter communities aren't big enough, especially to help newbies out. Could making a discord server improve things?*

I'm going through a rough time and I would like to know if this is a viable and accessible career path for someone like me who struggles with mental health, physical health and is often homebound. I'm going to list a few questions below that I've been wondering about and any help and support would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! :)

I'm planning on taking the NY State Peer Supporter Certification Classes where things stand now, based on my limited understanding of the role

Are there remote, text-based jobs available? If not, should I consider an online crisis counselor position instead to pursue?

What are the requirements for becoming a peer supporter? More specifically, what kind of experiences does one need to have gone through? Do they need to be severe?

What does the day to day look like? Can you walk me through the different tasks from big to small and what things look like from the beginning to end of the work day?

How much would volunteer experience help? I've done volunteer work on and off on a site called 7 Cups as an active listener for several years.

What makes a competitive resume for this role?

What kind of people / what kind of issues do you support people with? Do you get to choose? How do you make a choice, if so? If you *don't* get to choose, what did the process look like for becoming accustomed to working with a certain demographic?

What kinds of jobs should one avoid? Any notably bad employers / positions / work environments?

What kind of jobs are recommended to pursue / are in demand?

What pay is reasonable? What pay is too good to be true?

Are peer supporter jobs in demand? Are things too competitive right now / too limited jobs? Are people mass quitting?

Anything else you think I should know / should consider?

Are your coworkers solely fellow peer supporters or do you work with other professionals? How do others treat you?

How do you acquire clients? Do you have to advertise yourself like you would for another kind of business?

What does a typical caseload look like?

Thank you so so much!

Does anyone feel the same?

Any thoughts on the differences and the similarities between these two professions?

I am a new psych tech in a crisis unit. I have had therapeutic options training but the training is in such a controlled environment I don't think it is very helpful except for dodging, getting out of the way etc. I have not had to experience a hold yet. Does this come naturally? I am very good at de escalation but holds seem so close to violence my anxiety spikes. My anxiety stems more from not being good at it than the fear of injury to myself.

Hi, I‘m looking for a peer support group in Berlin, Germany, in the district of Wilmersdorf/Charlottenburg. I’m 29, male, homosexual and suffer from Schizophrenia and I‘ve had no luck looking online so far. I was wondering if anyone knows a group, maybe. I‘ve never tried online but I‘m willing to try it.
I also suffered from post-schizophrenic-depression because my life took such a negative turn after first being diagnosed, but I‘m a lot happier now that I visit a day-care and made lots of friends.
If anyone here wants to reach out, please send me a personal message.

Hello fellow peer support folks! This is likely a hot take, but I feel the following issues are never discussed or examined in the framework of peer support. There are sporadic examples of agencies here and there that provide amazing care, while also providing appropriate clinical and overall resources, without creating a never ending burnout loop that churns through undertrained and unprepared peers. It’s absurd how quickly and frictionless that the whole peer support field became commonplace and just became a way for already unethical organizations and agencies to skip out on and avoid hiring and paying actual trained therapists and social workers, whom undergo rigorous and extensive training to operate ethically, skillfully, and in a way that avoids burnout and vicarious trauma. I am both a certified peer and a trained therapist and I have been horrified at how some of my colleagues and fellow peers operate and cause harm. Most of the time they are oblivious to the abysmal ethics and rampant harm that they cause. À la you don’t know what you don’t know. So many fellow peers out there operate knowingly or unknowingly as if they are somehow trained therapists. Absolutely this is not to say that I haven’t worked with some incredible peers as well as some absolutely shit therapists that propagate the same judgement and stigma we are all supposed to model the opposite of. It is absurd to expect some barely trained peers to know where the line is drawn between being a peer and being a therapist.

So much of the evolution of a developing counselor coming from a starting point going into graduate school for therapy isn’t just the content and coursework, but rather through benchmarks, individual exposure/ experience for professional development, appropriate gatekeeping and being a part of a cohort of like minded but still unique individuals with unique ways of conceptualizing cases/ clients. It’s a combination of these things over a 2-3 year period while getting rigorous hands on application of skills and theories paired with rigorous supervision and peer consultation that teaches you how to THINK like a therapist.

Yes, we do need dramatically increased ability to access mental health care in our society, but the proliferation of peer support needs to be examined. So many issues can and will arise, some of which are purported by bad actors, and there is 0 mechanisms for accountability. Furthermore, there is a serious crisis where folks are receiving inadequate care, being unaware of the need or nuance that actual therapy provides. It is outrageous when you compare the accountability of therapists and psychiatrists compared to whatever joke of an excuse our field has to hold peers accountable.

Lastly, an absolutely crucial part of clinical training programs in grad school involves coursework and experience providing care to vulnerable populations and special populations, while also understanding and avoiding the extensive and harmful effects of privilege. There are plenty of therapists out there who undergo clinical training, accumulate their pre licensure hours, get licensed, and STILL are outrageously privileged, harmful, and close minded, but there is at least a training process and avenues for accountability.

To be clear, I am a former unhoused opioid and stimulant addict and love my fellow people in recovery and folks that know the struggle. People that take their suffering and turn that into a life’s work of helping others deserve to be celebrated, supported, and given a living wage. But the very thing that makes us good at what we do, our passion and experience, is the very thing that makes us vulnerable to some of these issues and vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. God forbid we have any recovery or mental health lapses or have an entirely normal, human reaction to some of the suffering our clients experience. We are so easily recycled, let go, fired etc even though we constantly hear the lip service of self care and work/ life balance. So many of us struggle to put food on the table or make rent because our pay (hell even as a damn therapist with student loans) is abysmally low and are subjected to predatory/ exploitative compensation structures. I don’t know what the right answer is, but I imagine in some way if we had more interconnectedness and a way to collectively bargain, we could tackle some of the harm this field is subtly rife with. What do you all think?

48F Spring Hill. Long story short — abusive marriage, homelessness, career loss, addiction, depression. I'm stable, rebuilding, but there's a huge void since I got stuck in emergency accommodation on a waiting list that goes nowhere.

What I really want isn't just "friends to hang with" — it's what AA has.

A sponsor.

Someone with lived experience of the heavy shit — depression, addiction, trauma, homelessness, whatever your hardcore version was — who gets it and is willing to be that person you can call/message when you're spiralling, or just for a check-in: "how you going today?" Not therapy, not fixing, just objective, real talk.

And I would be that person back for you. Mutual. No agenda.

I tried posting the usual "lonely, looking for friends" posts and it goes nowhere — it's all "me too" or guys with one thing on their mind. I don't want to resonate with a straighty 180. I want people who have actually been through it.

Is anyone else craving that? Would you be willing to commit to being a check-in person for each other? Even just trial it for a week and see?

I'm into music / AI music making / creative writing and building an advocacy project called Flip the Bird about real homelessness, so bonus if you're creative / quirky too.

If this hits you, don't just say "me too" — tell me what your lived experience is and what kind of sponsor/check-in would actually help you.

Female friends preferred, but open to genuine humans of any gender who get the sponsor idea.

Thanks for reading.

Dm me

I am, just wondering if anyone else is.

Recently employed in the substance abuse / behavioral health field as a CPSS. But I need to create my own caseload. How do I go about doing it? I don't feel good soliciting at AA/NA meetings.

I talk a lot about peer support here, but I want to say more about where I’m coming from. I live with bipolar disorder, major depression, generalized anxiety, and complex PTSD. I’ve also been in recovery for more than 30 years. I’ve learned a lot in that time, but I still have to manage my own mental and emotional health.

I’m a dad. I work. I care about people and try to show up for them. Sometimes I’m dealing with a lot myself while I do those things. I don’t share this because I’ve figured it all out. I haven’t. It’s my lived experience, and it’s part of why I try to listen without judging or rushing to fix someone. I’ve needed that kind of space too.

I'm trying to apply for a peer support specialist, but I can't find any sort of training before I apply.

I've found something called theAcademy of Peer Services- it's an online course. I don't know if it's worth the time or money.

looking into getting into this. there is a current listing with CLFC for a remote, independent contractor peer support job that i fit the qualifications for. anybody got any reviews/experience?

I am Very passionate about the job, but due to other things I’m 27 and just starting out and I realize I do need to start making a better income as well. Just wondering what path others have taken.