Peer Support Specialist

Opportunity to help people in need

Please read all the details below as they may affect your application process

We are seeking dedicated and compassionate Peer Support Specialists to join our team. The ideal candidate will play a crucial role in providing assistance and guidance to individuals facing various challenges related to mental health. This position requires a strong understanding of behavioral health, mentoring, and effective communication skills to support clients in navigating their journeys toward improved well-being.

Responsibilities

• Provide one-on-one support to children and teens or adults and elderly adults with mental health struggles
• Encourage clients to set and achieve personal goals
• Assist clients in developing coping strategies and life skills necessary for maintaining mental wellbeing
• Implement crisis management and intervention strategies if necessary to ensure client safety
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams including social workers to coordinate care
• Maintain accurate documentation of client interactions and progress in accordance with organizational policies
• Advocate for clients if needed within various systems such as healthcare, housing, and employment services

Requirements

• Strong mentoring skills with the ability to motivate and inspire others
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to connect with diverse populations
• Ability to work collaboratively within a team-oriented environment while maintaining client confidentiality
• A genuine passion for helping others achieve their mental health goals
• Knowledge of mental health counseling practices and social work principles is beneficial
• Willingness to work with clients one-on-one in their homes (or at a park, library etc). Sessions do not take place in our building. Sessions will take place in the client's home or a public space.
• This role requires a PSS Certificate (if you don't have one, you can begin training after hire, it takes 1-2 weeks virtual at your own pace to complete the training then 1-3 months to receive approval from the board)
• This role requires lived experience overcoming a mental health challenge such as addiction, trauma, ADHD, OCD, anxiety, depression or other (shown via reference letters)

Please note that if you don't already have the certificate it can take 1-4 months to obtain it. Therefore, while this is a paid role, the candidate who will have the most satisfaction from this role is someone who really wants to help people and for whom the extra income is just a nice plus.

There are two types of PSS, read on to see which you would qualify for:

Youth Peer Support Specialist - work with clients aged 10-21. The government requires Youth Peer Specialists to be between the ages of 18 and 30.

Adult Peer Support Specialist - work with clients aged 18-100+.

Please note if you have seen a listing from ThrYve for a "Peer Support Specialist" in addition to this listing for "Mental Health Mentor", these are two different listings for the same role, we just decided to list it under two different names so we would attract both experienced PSSs and also people who may not be familiar with the role/terminology of PSS but who have mental health experience and passion and would make good PSSs.

We have other listings for other boroughs. If you are interested in the role but live in a different borough, feel free to apply through this listing, it all goes to the same recruiting team.