CPSS Recovery Principles & Peer Support Practices 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A peer specialist is asked by their supervisor to document inaccurate information about a peer's progress. What should the peer specialist do?
- Complete the documentation as instructed to maintain job security
- Refuse and report the request through appropriate ethical channels (Correct answer)
- Ask the peer to sign off on the inaccurate documentation
- Document both versions and let the supervisor decide
Correct answer: Refuse and report the request through appropriate ethical channels
Integrity and ethical practice require peer specialists to refuse requests to falsify documentation and to report misconduct appropriately.
Question 2: What is the purpose of a 'Wellness Recovery Action Plan' (WRAP) in peer support?
- To document a peer's clinical diagnoses for insurance billing
- To help individuals identify their wellness tools, warning signs, and crisis plans (Correct answer)
- To replace the individualized service plan created by the treatment team
- To track medication adherence over time
Correct answer: To help individuals identify their wellness tools, warning signs, and crisis plans
WRAP is a self-designed plan that helps individuals manage their wellness, recognize warning signs, and prepare for crisis situations.
Question 3: How should a peer specialist handle a situation where a peer expresses suicidal ideation?
- Keep it confidential to maintain trust and wait to see if it passes
- Immediately respond with appropriate safety protocols and connect the peer to crisis services (Correct answer)
- Tell the peer that suicidal thoughts are a normal part of recovery
- Ask the peer to call back when they are feeling better
Correct answer: Immediately respond with appropriate safety protocols and connect the peer to crisis services
Expressing suicidal ideation requires immediate safety response and connection to crisis resources, overriding standard confidentiality.
Question 4: In peer support, 'cultural humility' involves:
- Learning everything about a peer's culture before meeting with them
- Approaching each individual with openness, self-reflection, and willingness to learn about their cultural identity (Correct answer)
- Treating everyone identically to avoid discrimination
- Focusing only on recovery-specific culture rather than ethnic or social identities
Correct answer: Approaching each individual with openness, self-reflection, and willingness to learn about their cultural identity
Cultural humility is an ongoing practice of self-reflection and openness to others' cultural perspectives rather than claiming cultural expertise.
Question 5: Which of the following BEST describes the role of 'advocacy' in peer support specialist work?
- Filing legal complaints on behalf of peers without their knowledge
- Supporting peers in speaking up for their own needs and rights within systems (Correct answer)
- Advocating for changes to state legislation as a primary job duty
- Taking over communication with service providers on the peer's behalf
Correct answer: Supporting peers in speaking up for their own needs and rights within systems
Peer specialists support self-advocacy by empowering peers to voice their needs and navigate systems themselves.
Question 6: What is the significance of 'lived experience' as a qualification for peer support specialists?
- It replaces the need for any formal training or certification
- It provides credibility and the ability to offer experiential knowledge that professionals without lived experience cannot provide (Correct answer)
- It means the peer specialist must have been hospitalized at least once
- It is only relevant for substance use peer specialists, not mental health peers
Correct answer: It provides credibility and the ability to offer experiential knowledge that professionals without lived experience cannot provide
Lived experience gives peer specialists unique insight and authenticity that forms the foundation of the peer support relationship.
Question 7: A peer specialist feels emotionally triggered after a difficult session with a peer. What is the MOST appropriate action?
- Continue working without addressing it to maintain professionalism
- Practice self-care and seek supervision or consultation to process the experience (Correct answer)
- Share their distress with the peer to model vulnerability
- Terminate the peer relationship to protect their own wellbeing
Correct answer: Practice self-care and seek supervision or consultation to process the experience
Self-care and supervision are essential practices that allow peer specialists to sustain their effectiveness and wellbeing.
CPSS Recovery Principles & Peer Support Practices 4
A peer specialist is asked by their supervisor to document inaccurate information about a peer's progress.
What should the peer specialist do?