PSS Role and Responsibilities 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A peer support specialist is asked by a supervisor to document detailed clinical assessments of clients. What is the most appropriate response?
- Complete the assessments to help the team
- Explain that clinical assessment is outside the peer specialist role and decline (Correct answer)
- Ask a colleague to co-sign the assessments
- Perform the assessments only for clients the specialist knows well
Correct answer: Explain that clinical assessment is outside the peer specialist role and decline
Conducting clinical assessments falls outside the scope of the peer support specialist role, which is defined by lived experience rather than clinical licensure.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'mutuality' in peer support?
- The peer specialist makes decisions on behalf of the person served
- Both the peer specialist and the person served can learn and grow from their relationship (Correct answer)
- The peer specialist and supervisor share equal authority
- The peer specialist and client exchange financial compensation
Correct answer: Both the peer specialist and the person served can learn and grow from their relationship
Mutuality means the relationship is reciprocal — both parties can benefit and grow, distinguishing peer support from traditional provider-client models.
Question 3: A peer support specialist overhears a colleague making stigmatizing comments about people with mental illness. What is the specialist's responsibility?
- Ignore it to avoid workplace conflict
- Address the stigma by sharing a recovery-oriented perspective with the colleague (Correct answer)
- Report it immediately to an external agency without speaking to the colleague first
- Agree with the colleague to maintain professional relationships
Correct answer: Address the stigma by sharing a recovery-oriented perspective with the colleague
Peer specialists serve as anti-stigma advocates and have a responsibility to challenge stigmatizing language and promote recovery-oriented perspectives.
Question 4: When a person being supported by a peer specialist sets a goal that the specialist personally disagrees with, the specialist should:
- Refuse to support the goal until it aligns with best practices
- Support the person's self-determination and assist with the chosen goal (Correct answer)
- Escalate the concern to a supervisor to override the person's decision
- Provide support only if the person explains their reasoning
Correct answer: Support the person's self-determination and assist with the chosen goal
Self-determination is a core peer support value; the specialist's role is to support the person's own goals, not to impose the specialist's preferences.
Question 5: A peer support specialist is working with someone who is expressing hopelessness about their recovery. The most effective peer response is to:
- Remind them of the statistical likelihood of recovery
- Share a relevant aspect of the specialist's own recovery journey to instill hope (Correct answer)
- Refer them immediately to a psychiatrist
- Reassure them that their feelings will pass soon
Correct answer: Share a relevant aspect of the specialist's own recovery journey to instill hope
Intentional use of self-disclosure — sharing one's own recovery experience — is a key tool peer specialists use to instill hope and demonstrate recovery is possible.
Question 6: Which activity is within the appropriate scope of a peer support specialist?
- Diagnosing a co-occurring substance use disorder
- Helping someone practice skills for attending a job interview (Correct answer)
- Prescribing medication adjustments under supervision
- Writing a formal psychiatric evaluation
Correct answer: Helping someone practice skills for attending a job interview
Coaching practical life skills such as interview preparation falls squarely within the peer support specialist's role of supporting community integration and recovery goals.
Question 7: A peer support specialist maintains their own wellness by:
- Keeping all personal struggles completely hidden from the organization
- Practicing self-care and utilizing their own support systems to sustain recovery (Correct answer)
- Working extra hours to build credibility with clinical staff
- Avoiding any personal reflection to stay focused on clients
Correct answer: Practicing self-care and utilizing their own support systems to sustain recovery
Maintaining personal wellness is an ethical obligation for peer specialists, as their own sustained recovery is fundamental to their effectiveness and credibility.
PSS Role and Responsibilities 2
A peer support specialist is asked by a supervisor to document detailed clinical assessments of clients.
What is the most appropriate response?