Advocating for systems change Certified peer specialists practice within the broader mental health and substance use services system. It is important for certified peer specialists to realize that the employing agency has already taken steps toward change by virtue of having created a certified peer specialist position. Change can be slow and incremental in organizations. It could be considered an ethical obligation of a certified peer specialist to continue advocating for systems change. By speaking up and advocating for specific change, the certified peer specialist will be giving voice to many others. Good starting points include: • Recognizing, valuing, and supporting multiple pathways to recovery, including harm reduction and access to supports inside and outside of evidence-based practice services. • Implementing trauma-informed practices based on an ongoing quality improvement process. • Expecting that organizations will recognize the harm that can be perpetuated through dictating which language or terms are to be used to describe lived experience in service settings or documentation. • Providing person-centered and self-directed services that recognize each person as the expert on their own lives and recovery, as well as members of wider communities. • Adopting informed consent practices in multiple ways throughout the agency that truly support peoples’ self-determination and reduce systemic harm. • Organizing movements, coalitions, or teams against the harm of force, coercion, and restrictive measures anywhere they take place. • Advocating for services and supports that meet people where they are at and honors that struggle is part of healing, and that recovery is a non-linear process. • Moving toward viewing crisis as an opportunity for growth and connection. • Supporting organizational diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion initiatives.
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