Purpose:
Under the supervision of the Mental Health Supervisor of the CATCH program, provides supportive and outreach services to adolescent, adult & geriatric consumers of inpatient and outpatient mental health services. Peer Counselors are integrated into treatment teams in order to enhance patients’ safety, promote recovery and provide continuity of care. The Peer Counselor, utilizing a recovery orientation, will work in close collaboration with staff of all disciplines, consumers, significant others and outside agencies to provide respectful, patient-centered treatment and discharge planning.
Specific Duties and Responsibilities:
The Peer Counselor Level II is charged with and responsible for:
Acts as preceptor to Peer Counselors in Assignment.
1. Provides education on substance abuse issues to consumers.
2. Advocates for the needs of people with substance use disorders within the behavioral health system and within service delivery systems.
3. Participates in utilization review and quality improvement activities.
4. Comforts patients, reassuring them about recovery and explaining the process of how acute distress is addressed.
5. Provides orientation and support to patients and collaterals.
6. Helps patients to understand their role in their own recovery process.
7. Uses personal experience as a recipient of behavioral health services (including co-occurring/substance use background) in role-modeling recovery and providing hope for other recipients.
8. Assists patients in seeking clarification about the treatment and recovery process.
9. Engages patients and helps motivate them to enter treatment and engage with care coordination.
10. Provides motivation to address ambivalence about change using basic motivational interviewing techniques.
11. Conducts overdose prevention trainings with patients and their families, including naloxone distribution.
12. Provides linkage to continuing care and community resources.
13. Conducts follow-up with patients after discharge.
14. Assists with patient documentation, tracking, and follow-up.
15. Works with CATCH/SUD treatment team to facilitate engagement with clinic services.
16. Collaborates with staff in maintaining appropriate documentation.
17. Participates in supervision, department staff meetings, and other program review meetings.
18. Receives supervision and support from substance use disorder treatment program and administrative leadership. In addition, receives task supervision from team leads with whom they work on other services.
19. Other duties as assigned.