PSSC Training - CA

Join experienced Copeland Center trainers for the Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist Certification (PSSC) Training.

This 80-hour course utilizes experiential learning methods so you will be learning through practicing, sharing, reflecting. This hands-on approach is the most effective way to bring the philosophy and research of peer support into practical methods that can be used for a successful career. We are not only learning about practices and applications for future roles and relationships as certified peer specialist, we are also building and learning from the very peer relationships present in this course.

Peer support has been demonstrated through research and practical application to be highly effective. Research has proven that peer support can increase individuals' self-esteem, sense of hope, and practical coping skills and improve life outcomes in many domains (Cook, 2011). Peer support has also proven to be a best practice for engaging populations who are resistant to traditional mental health services (Chinman, et. al., 2014). Peers are now playing an integral role as professional healthcare providers across the United States. Training and certification programs in states and localities across the nation, including in California, are preparing Peer Specialists to assist individuals in skills building, goal setting, problem solving, and in helping peers build their own self-directed recovery tools (Chapman, Bash, & Chan, 2015). Studies have demonstrated that peer support services are generally cost effective and often save costs (American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, 2014). 

Training Approach
In keeping to our values, practices and ethics of engaged, experiential and mutual learning, the Certified Peer Support Specialist Training Program will be co- facilitated by two peers with lived experience with recovery. Most notably, we will illustrate application of peer support from our experiential knowledge and skill in recovery as a key approach to promote an engaged learning environment.  We will engage, invite, request and model the peer support relationship together throughout the course. In a peer support relationship, it is essential to uphold the ethic of equality and mutual learning and to avoid identities based in hierarchical, medical, and clinical language. Facilitating an effective Certified Peer Support Specialist training requires a collaborative effort and mutuality by all.

The Copeland Center can provide our 80-hour training program via a combination of formats: in-person, virtual, and hybrid.  Our hybrid approach can include up to 40 hours of the 80-hour course being provided through interactive online sessions. The Copeland Center builds partnerships with community organizations so that we are able to provide training how, where, and when it is needed. Following this approach allows us to provide training across the state in the most cost-effective way possible

Join us for our next session with 5 full days online followed by 5 days in-person!

Tuition: $1650.00