The North Carolina Peer Support Specialist Registry in collaboration with the Community Engagement and Empowerment team at the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services is pleased to offer free training to Certified Peer Support Specialists (CPSS). These webinars will focus on a variety of topics related to Peer Support. The contact hours can be used towards the additional training requirement for certification and recertification.
What is Peer Support? This webinar provides an in-depth exploration of peer support as a service and a profession. It will clarify what peer support entails and what it does not. The goal is to help certified peer support specialists better understand their role and that of other professionals in the behavioral health field.
Date: August 22nd, 2024 Time: 12:00–1:30 p.m. EST Training Hours: 1.5 hours Trainer: Wes Rider
Benefits Counseling This webinar allows peers to understand the basics of benefits counseling, including an overview of the benefits available in North Carolina. You will also learn effective strategies for navigating the benefits system.
Date: September 19th, 2024 Time: 12:00–1:30 p.m. EST Training Hours: 1.5 hours Trainer: Rosemary Weaver
Wellness in Peer Support During this webinar, you will explore the core wellness principles that help keep peers healthy and whole while providing peer support services. Peers will identify obstacles to wellness and techniques that sustain overall well-being. By the end of this webinar, you will have the tools for your wellness and share the information with the peers you support.
Date: October 17th, 2024 Time: 12:00–1:30 p.m. EST Training Hours: 1.5 hours Trainer: Al Thomas
The History and Efficacy of Peer Support This session is designed for peer support specialists who want to deepen their understanding of peer support's origins and how this knowledge can enhance their practice. By understanding the history of peer support in NC within the broader profession of peer support, peers will gain insight into how to use this information to impact the communities they serve significantly.
Date: November 14th, 2024 Time: 12:00–1:30 p.m. EST Training Hours: 1.5 hours Trainer: Wes Rider
Trainers
Wes Rider
Wes Rider recently retired, after a thirty-year career in the field of social work. After graduating from East Carolina University with a BSW in 1993, Wes worked in a variety of social work roles, most of which focused on supporting people to gain or maintain employment. Early in his career, Wes served on one of the first teams to implement person centered planning in NC. Wes has been a long-time recovery champion and advocate for recovery-oriented supports and consumer run service programs.
Rosemary Weaver
Rosemary has been a North Carolina Certified Peer Support Specialist since 2008. She also achieved the Advanced Level National Peer Support Certification in 2018. Additional certifications include Work Incentives Practitioner for SSI/SSDI beneficiaries, Digital Peer Support, Digital Peer Support Supervision, Supporting Older Adults Remotely, and Wellness Recovery Action Plan Facilitator. Rosemary trained peer support specialists under 2 different NC curriculums from 2013-2017. She is a former Chair of the SCFAC and served on two legislative committees ( Blue Ribbon Commission on Transitions to Community Living Initiative and LME/MCO Governance.)
Al Thomas
Al Thomas is a Peer Support Specialist, Trainer and Wrap Facilitator for North Carolina, originally from St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Thomas has worked on countless forums and committees that assist individuals in improving their unwanted conditions and create the reality they desire. Mr. Thomas is a psychology major at North Carolina Central University with a minor in African American Studies. Mr. Thomas has used related skills of personal experience and the study of human behavior to promote self-help, self-advocacy, as well as other pertinent skills that result in long term sustainable outcomes for individual to progress effectively with daily living.
