Peer Support

What is Peer Support?

Through Peer Support, people with their own experience of mental illness and/or substance use provide support, hope, and education to others. At CT Mental Health Center, Peer Support Staff are trained and in paid roles to help support clients in their recovery journey.

Peer support is offered in the following places and programs at CMHC:

The Peer Support Team Resource Desk

Peers at the Resource Desk provide individual support. They are available to talk with people receiving services, connect them with resources, explain the ins-and-outs of services or simply help people find their way in the building. Peers act as role models and share their experiences with mental illness and/or substance use with others. Peers are also available to help people receiving services fill out intake paperwork or write a note to the Director about their experiences of services at CMHC.

Location	Days and Times
1st Floor Main Lobby	1st Floor – M-Th, 8:30-3pm

Recovery Support Specialists

Recovery Support Specialists are peer support staff working on treatment teams within the CMHC system. Recovery Support Specialists bring specialized peer support skills and training into multidisciplinary clinical teams. They provide a variety of different supports, from individual coaching to running groups, supporting people in developing recovery plans, providing education about resources, and engaging people in their treatment and in their communities.

Location: Currently, CMHC has Recovery Support Specialists on the ACT (Assertive Community Treatment) Team, the Community Support Team, and the Behavioral Health Home team based at 34 Park Street, and on the Young Adult Services Team at the West Haven Mental Health Clinic.

Peer-Led WRAP Groups

Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) is a curriculum developed by Mary Ellen Copeland, MSW, who herself is in recovery from bipolar disorder. Peer-facilitated WRAP groups help participants develop daily wellness plans, create a wellness toolbox, and construct a crisis and post-crisis plan to help when things aren’t going well. WRAP groups are offered on the 4th floor Inpatient Unit and for people receiving outpatient services at CMHC.

Location: 4th Floor Inpatient (open to patients on the 4th floor) and Outpatient groups at 34 Park Street (open to any outpatient client at CMHC)

To learn more about peer support services at CMHC, please contact Rebecca Miller, Director of Peer Support at CMHC, (203) 974-7350, rebecca.miller@yale.edu.