I'm new here!

[Ghorton]

My name is Gabby. I'm a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist. This means I am in recovery from my mental illnesses while helping others with their recovery as well.

[Celtic27]

Hi gabby good to see you have turned a dark time in your life to a more hopeful time in your life !

[Fi68]

Hello Gabby, it is such good news to hear that someone with lived experience of mental health difficulties is supporting others. How did you become a certified peer recovery specialist? What model of recovery do you use?

Fi.

[Ghorton in reply to Fi68]

I must say that I just got lucky. My job sent me to the training for the certification. And we don't use just one model. Recovery looks different for everyone. We are very client centered.

[tofler]

Hi Gabby, what was the training that you did to become a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist and is this available in the UK? I wish I had access to some recovery focused peer support but as i'm working full time I can't get to the sessions that my local recovery college offer in the UK.

[Sarah1111111 Ambassador]

Definitely sounds interesting, I would be keen to do the course if its in the UK. Is there a link to further info/ the institute that do the training? Im sure that a few of us would be interested in learning more about it as it sounds a great opportunity.

[tofler]

I did some googling and it seems to be an American model. I didn't find any UK web pages about it. We have recovery "colleges" in the UK but they're run by mental health services during office hours, so are inaccessible to people who are working but struggling.

[Ghorton in reply to tofler]

That seems to be the case for the hours. I'm sorry dear

[tofler in reply to Ghorton]

Yes, there's very little help around for the "working unwell". Now that you've had this training and got the certificate do you have any tips, ideas, information etc that you can share with us on here, to help us with our recovery journeys?