Training

Woman leading a Peer Institute Training Program
Woman leading a Peer Institute Training Program
Peer Institute training in-session

Training for Certified Peer Specialists is essential to ensure they have the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to provide effective, person-centered support. Comprehensive training equips them to foster recovery, build trust, and advocate for individuals facing mental health or substance use challenges.

By learning best practices and ethical standards, Peer Specialists can confidently support members of the community on their journey toward improved health, wellness, and community connection.

A Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) is as a person with lived experience of a mental health and/or co-occurring mental health and substance use challenge.

Certified Peer Specialists work with people receiving mental health services across a range of outpatient and inpatient settings, including mental health clinics, crisis centers, and in the community.

Peer Specialists work in teams with other mental health providers, such as psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, helping people achieve their well-being goals, and creating a fulfilling life in the community.

Certified Peer Specialists use their lived experience to build a relationship with other individuals engaged in their own journey of recovery.  These relationships are characterized by mutual trust and respect, sharing of experiences and information about the recovery process.

Certified Peer Specialists are credentialed to work as support for individuals during their mental health and substance use recovery. Peer specialists offer a unique perspective into peer support services because of their lived experience.

The prerequisite for CPS training is storytelling training (link to UR Storytellers below on page).

The Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disability Services offers CPS training in collaboration with Mental Health Partnerships.

DBHIDS sponsors the cost of training and testing for approved applicants.

Learn More About Certified Peer Specialist Training

Training is essential for anyone supervising Certified Peer Specialists, as it equips supervisors with the knowledge and skills to support peer specialists effectively. It ensures alignment with recovery principles, fosters professional growth, and promotes a trauma-informed, person-centered supervisory approach.

This 12-hour course provides a comprehensive foundation for supervising in a peer support environment. The training emphasizes understanding of Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) roles and recovery values while incorporating key frameworks from national organizations and established models.

Approved for continuing education units, the course uses interactive virtual methods to engage participants and build practical skills. Facilitators ensure an immersive learning experience that prepares supervisors to effectively support peer specialists in their vital roles.

Learn More About CPS Supervisors Training

The Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) is a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) evidence-based practice. WRAP is a personalized plan designed to support individuals in maintaining their overall wellness.

WRAP is recognized behavioral health experts as an effective way to help individuals lessen distressing feelings and behaviors.

WRAP 1: Design your personalized recovery plan

Wrap 2 Facilitator Training: Become a Certified WRAP Leader

The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) course educates adults on how to support someone experiencing a mental health crisis or problem. The program teaches essential skills for recognizing, understanding, and responding to behavioral health challenges like anxiety, depression, psychosis, and addiction.

Learn more about MHFA

Certified Mental Health First Aid instructors play a vital role in the program by teaching Mental Health First Aid in their communities and empowering others with these essential skills.

To become a MHFA certified instructor, candidates must complete a multi-day training that covers the MHFA course and provides detailed guidance on teaching the curriculum.

The training includes a written exam and assesses each candidate’s ability to effectively deliver the course to diverse audiences.

Learn more about becoming a MHFA Instructor

Certified Recovery Specialist training is a peer-support program designed to meet the requirements set by the Pennsylvania Certification Board.

Participants in this training learn about recovery management, education and advocacy, professional ethics and responsibility, confidentiality, and the field of addiction.

Learn more about CSR Training

Individuals interested in becoming Certified Peer Specialists must first complete the required Storytelling Training.

The Storytelling Training equips individuals with the skills to share their personal challenges in a way that inspires hope and supports others on their recovery journey. Sharing stories challenges stigma and highlights the shared experiences that unite people.

Using a population health approach, this training empowers community members to use their experiences to connect with and support those facing similar struggles. By fostering self-disclosure, it helps reduce stigma, combat isolation, build stronger connections, and link individuals to valuable community resources and DBHIDS services.

Learn more about Storytelling Training

Community Health Workers (CHWs) are individuals dedicated to enhancing the health and well-being of a community. They typically serve communities they are closely connected to, whether through residence or shared characteristics like ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status, or lived experiences.

Find CHW training opportunities in these links:

The Community Autism Peer Specialist (CAPS) program pairs an individual with autism with a Community Autism Peer Specialist to achieve wellness and community integration.

Adults diagnosed with autism will complete 75 hours of training. Most of this training time is in-person in a classroom setting.

Upon successful completion of the program, individuals can apply for a position as a CAPS.

Learn more about CAPS Training

Immigrant & Refugee Academy (IRWA) is a free certification program designed to empower and prepare Philadelphia’s multilingual / multicultural immigrants and refugees that address intersectional challenges and the impact of trauma and inequity within the immigrant and refugee community.

Learn more about IRWA

Become a CPS at a Pennsylvania Certification Board Approved Training Site

The Pennsylvania Certification Board (PCB) is a private, nonprofit organization that provides voluntary credentialing for professionals in behavioral, physical, and community health fields.

PCB establishes and enforces certification standards and administers testing for various roles, including addiction counselors, prevention specialists, clinical supervisors, and recovery and peer specialists. PCB is committed to promoting public protection through its rigorous certification process.

PCB approved sites offering CPS training: