About
The Kentucky Adult Peer Support Specialist (APSS) 30-Hour Core Training prepares individuals with lived experience of mental health and/or substance use recovery to serve as effective peer support specialists within behavioral health systems. This training is designed in alignment with 908 KAR 2:220 and the Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities (DBHDID) core competency requirements. Participants develop the foundational knowledge, skills, and ethical framework necessary to support individuals experiencing mental health disorders, substance use disorders, and co-occurring conditions through a recovery-oriented, person-centered approach. The curriculum emphasizes the value of lived experience, mutual support, and the promotion of hope, empowerment, and self-determination. Through interactive instruction, group discussion, role-playing, and practical exercises, trainees learn core competencies including problem solving, effective listening, recovery goal setting, use of support groups, and application of the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). The training also addresses professional boundaries, ethics, suicide prevention, trauma-informed care, cultural awareness, self-care, and the stages of behavioral health recovery. Upon completion of the training, participants will understand the role and responsibilities of a peer support specialist, how peer services differ from traditional clinical services, and how to use their recovery story and lived experience as tools to support others in achieving wellness and recovery. This course includes 30 hours of instructor-led learning delivered through an interactive format designed to prepare participants for certification and employment as Adult Peer Support Specialists in Kentucky’s behavioral health system.
You can also join this program via the mobile app. Go to the app