-
Peer Support in Practice: Workplace Strategies and Professional Development
The field of peer support is quickly gaining prominence and visibility across the domains of behavioral health and substance use services. Georgia was the first state to provide Medicaid-billable mental health peer services in 1999 - it was not until 2012 that Medicaid billing was authorized for...
-
An Ecological Perspective on Policing and Behavioral Health
The ecological model helps us understand how people’s environments—from family systems to institutions like policing—shape behavioral health outcomes. Environmental determinants help explain how systemic and structural conditions contribute to mental health disparities. This article examines...
-
Meeting Crisis With Connection: The Power of Peer Specialists on Mobile Crisis Teams
Over the past several years, New York City has increasingly shifted toward community-based responses to behavioral health crises. In the past, individuals experiencing psychiatric emergencies were often limited to hospital emergency departments or interactions with law enforcement. While those...
-
Beyond Boundaries: Oh, the Places Peer Support Can Go!
Peer support has always been bigger than the box systems tried to paint it in. Long before it was codified, credentialed, or added into service plans, it was ordinary folk reaching for one another—standing in the front, behind and to the side of each other sharing hard-earned wisdom, offering...
-
The Need for More Effective Approaches to Mental Health Crises
Law enforcement officers are most often the first responders when individuals are experiencing a mental health crisis. Some research studies have estimated that at least 20% of police service calls involve a mental health or substance use crisis, and this demand has been increasing for many...
-
Lived Experience, Lasting Impact: The Role of Peer Support in Mental Health Intensive Outpatient Programs
Beginning an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) is not just about addressing symptoms. Many participants enter treatment carrying uncertainty about the process, wondering whether it will work and how they will manage future challenges. Even with strong therapeutic relationships and...
-
Implementing and Sustaining Peer Support: The Recovery Workforce Learning Collaborative (RWLC)
The integration of peer recovery support specialists represents a significant shift in behavioral health systems. Peers offer unique perspectives and authenticity that strengthen recovery-oriented systems of care (Davidson et al., 2021). Drawing on lived experience, they bring insights that support...
-
Supporting Recovery Through Peer Services: How Community-Based Support Helps People Reconnect, Heal, and Thrive
Peer services are often described as supportive, but at their best, they are transformational. Recovery is rarely a straight line, and it rarely happens in isolation. For many people living with mental health or substance use challenges, progress is shaped not only by treatment, but also by...
-
I Told the Bot, Not My Therapist – Why Some People Turn to AI for Emotional Support
Key Points Emotionally responsive AI systems are increasingly used for comfort, not just information. Validation without limits can unintentionally deepen isolation during moments of vulnerability. Chatbots can simulate empathy but cannot assume human responsibility or intervene when...
-
SAMHSA Announces $231M Funding Opportunity to Administer 988 Lifeline
The SAMHSA-funded 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline received more than 8 million contacts from help seekers in 2025 The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced today a $231M funding...
