PSA Behavioral Health Agency

Recovery Support

Mission

The Recovery Services Department supports our PSA community members in their desire to live meaningful and productive lives by inspiring hope and providing person-centered, peer-involved recovery support services.

Description

The Department of Recovery Services was officially established in May, 2011. The main goal of the department is to establish within the PSA Agency a sense of support and awareness of the reality that recovery is truly a possibility for all. The recovery support specialist is the catalyst for establishing this goal throughout all PSA programs. The role of the Recovery Support Specialist (RSS) is to help people become and stay engaged in the recovery process by acting as models of hope gained through experiential knowledge. Sharing and listening are the main tools of the RSS through which social support is provided. There are four types of social support services which the RSS utilizes in working with his/her peers:

Emotional: Demonstrating empathy, caring, or concern to bolster a person’s self-esteem and confidence;
Informational: Sharing knowledge and information including life and/or vocational skills;
Instrumental: Providing concrete assistance to help others accomplish tasks;
Affiliational: Facilitating contacts with other people to promote learning of social and recreational skills, create community, and acquire a sense of belonging.

Through these services the basic concepts of recovery – support, hope, education, personal responsibility, and self-advocacy – are shared with peers in order to empower them to attain a meaningful and gainful life beyond the constraints of a mental illness, substance abuse disorder, or both. As a Recovery Support Specialist a peer acts as a guide or mentor in helping people find within themselves their own resources, thereby empowering people to reach their hopes and dreams. Learning personal responsibility and gaining self-sufficiency are integral part of the recovery journey.

Philosophy

The Recovery Services Department philosophy is based on the following values:

Keeping recovery first by placing recovery at the center of the effort and basing goals on the strengths and resiliencies of the individual rather than the pathology of illness;
Honoring cultural diversity and inclusion
Ensuring that recovery is seen in the agency as a participatory process, including peers in all aspects of the organization;
Recognizing the authenticity of peers helping peers through the power of example, hope, motivation, and mutuality;
Building leadership abilities among members of the recovery community.