Language Matters (Core Competencies: 1.4; 1.5; 1.11; 2.5; 2.7; 2.9; 2.10; 3.3; 3.5; 3.7; 4.6; 4.7) Some employing agencies require certified peer specialists to document peer support services as part of a confidential record. Language matters in how people, behavior, and service activities are described. Within the medical model approach, human services have a long history of referring to people as their diagnosis, using stigmatizing labels, speaking in pejorative terms, and embracing deficit-based descriptions. This is due to the medical model approach being centered on what is wrong with a person. The language that is used in service settings, linked to people in documentation or medical records can either support a person’s well-being and care or perpetuate stigma and marginalization. One of the efforts people have been engaged in to transform the way services are provided is advocating for strengths-based approaches. This has often been seen as best achieved using person-first language. Person-first language is language that is centered around personhood and people having experiences or diagnoses rather than being defined by those experiences or diagnoses. There is ongoing debate and discussion on the value of person-first language. Many people with lived experience find meaning in language and terms that could sometimes be perceived as deficit-based by others. It is important that certified peer specialists honor the terms and language that their peers find meaningful or as an element of their healing. Positionality matters when it comes to language. This means that one’s position or lived experience matters the most when it comes to the value of labels and language. The term addict may be seen as deficit-based language by some who prefer a person-first alternative, “person with substance use challenges.” Whereas, to some others with lived experience of addiction, meaning and value, including a sense of strength, may be found in identifying as an addict in a community of fellow addicts. Whether labeled deficit-based language, identity-first language, strengths-based language, or person- first language, certified peer specialists should center the person they are supporting and their wishes around the language that is most meaningful and least harmful to them. As always, avoiding assumptions and listening roadblocks, while remaining curious and asking open, exploring questions will aid any certified peer specialist in using language that promotes healing and a sense of understanding. The following tables show what has been understood as deficit-based language terms as well as strengths-based or person-first language terms within the mental health and substance use services system when describing people, behavior, and services.
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