Advocacy for consumers of mental health and social services is a key force moving these services toward truly patient-centered care. Patients, family members, Peer Specialists, clinical staff and quality assurance professionals all find themselves in the advocacy role at times, pushing for continued improvement in programs and organizations that patients rely on for their recovery. Unfortunately few people have any formal training or education in how to advocate effectively. This pocket resource is designed to provide easy access to the key strategies and information needed to help anyone finding themselves advocating for small or large changes in a healthcare or social service organization, to do so effectively.

There were more visits to peer support/self-help groups last year, than there were visits to the offices of mental health professionals. Peer support groups have exploded in popularity, as the public and the healthcare community recognize that they provide an effective complement to formal care, and improve the chance that many participants will have better healthcare outcomes. Few peer support/self-help group leaders have more than minimal training in how to lead a group successfully. This is unfortunate, as leading a self-help group is often challenging. This pocket resource is designed to provide easy access to key information and strategies to help Peer Specialists and other lay group leaders develop and expand their group facilitation skills so they can lead healthy thriving peer support groups.

This revised pocket resource provides Peer Specialists or Peer Counselors working with adults in mental health and/or substance use treatment, with key information about common strategies they need in order to be effective in this specialized role. It is also provides a guide to common terms and a customizable resource of referral information that Peers can share with the people they support.

We generally assume that people get mental healthcare when they need it. There is clear evidence this is not true. More than half of adults with mental healthcare needs in the United States do not participate in any treatment, and when they do, there is a median delay of 11 years before they enter needed care. Healthcare organizations tend to be passive in the face of this pattern of long delays in treatment entry. Their traditional stance is to wait until patients come to them. The problem with this strategy is that it results in long, unnecessary delays, with more suffering and more cost to those individuals, their families, their employers, the broader community, and ultimately to the healthcare industry. Peer Support Specialists and outreach workers can play a key role in helping people make timely decisions to enter needed mental health treatment and supports like self-help groups. Unfortunately, they rarely receive more than minimal training on how to do this effectively and in a way that respects the autonomy and the needs of their clients. This pocket resource provides the tools and strategies to ensure Peer Support Specialists and outreach workers are well prepared for this critically important work. "I don't know of any other resource like this that addresses how to help people enter treatment when they actually need it, and not years later. It focuses on a gigantic need in the mental health field that is generally being ignored at a high cost to our communities. This book is full of practical information and tools that work with people who are ambivalent about getting help." Charles Drebing, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine, has been a strong advocate for the strategic use of peer support and outreach to better serve adults recovering from mental illness.

Many people are providing peer counseling with little or no training. This book provides a practical introduction to peer counseling, as well as useful examples and activities to help the reader learn how to do it well.

This remains the best (and only) handbook for learning to be a peer counselor. After years of success with their first editon, the editors have updated and greatly expanded Peer Counseling with new chapters by additional contributors. This new edition provides the basics of rapidly training college students and others in: Listening skills -- Crisis counseling -- Counseling skills Cultural and ethnic perspectives -- Resident advisors Suggested training curriculum Chapters from new contributing authors help reflect changes in the work of the average college campus peer counselor: Ethical considerations -- Making referrals -- Date rape -- Sexual orientation -- HIV antibody test counseling Complete with bibliography and index

" Peer Advocates in Action" is curriculum guide for educators, counselors, administrators, and anyone who wants to build a peer-to-peer resource program at their site. Whether you are new or experienced, this book will serve as a curriculum and guide to empowering students as culture leaders of your school. At the heart of this journey is building relationships with every student, them with one another, between youth and adults, and with their community. Students will learn intrapersonal and interpersonal relationship building skills that will allow them to contribute greatly to changing their own lives, each other's lives, the life of your classroom, school community, and beyond. This curriculum will guide you step-by-step to training your students or participants so they can act as peer mentors, counselors, educators, and advocates for their peers.