Our Background in Peer Support
With extensive clinical, community and private peer support expertise, our team of peer support specialists use their lived experience to develop educational programs that empower practitioners to incorporate peer support effectively into their practices. SubstanceU is dedicated to promoting and protecting peer support within mental health and addiction care.
Improving Clinical Peer Support Integration for Better Outcomes
We are committed to advancing the role of peer support in mental health and addiction treatment. Our programs are designed to empower practitioners with the skills and knowledge to improve their connection with lived experience colleagues and peer support workers to foster recovery through client engagement. With a team of experienced professionals, we focus on evidence-based strategies and lived experience solutions to ensure more effective and positive integration of peer support work into diverse clinical settings.
Working with us is simple
Meet Our Team
Lindsay Civiero
Founder of SubstanceU, Canadian Certified Peer Support Specialist, Lived Experience Educator and Mental Health Advisor.
The SubstanceU Team
We partner with Lived Experience Individuals, Peer Support Specialists, Peer Volunteers, Mental health and Addictions Clinical Experts, and Communications Advisors to strengthen our impact.
Our Partners
SubstanceU is has been proudly supported by: University of Toronto; The Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation’s Course Design Institute; ICUBE Ideation Lab at University of Toronto Mississauga.
Peer Support Education
Our peer support courses have been offered through: CAMH Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; CMHA Canadian Mental Health Association; Halton Healthcare; CAMH & Unity Health Project ECHO-AMPI (Addictions Medicine and Psychosocial Interventions); and PeerSupportTherapy.com.
FAQ
Understanding Peer Support
Peer Support fosters recovery and enhances mental health and addiction treatment through community building, and engagement. Effective use of Peer Support enriches client experience and engagement.
But what is it, really?
What is Peer Support?
When experiencing difficulties with mental health, addiction, trauma, it can be hard to talk about it. Often, people may not know where to turn or who they can talk to. It can be a really lonely place to be. Peer Support is all about building hope for recovery through shared experience. Peer Support helps people feel less alone. When we talk to “Peers” we are sharing our experiences in a safe, non-judgmental space, with someone who has been there, has lived a similar experience and has found a way through.
Peer Support Specialists share their personal experiences on their journey through mental health recovery: what worked and what didn’t; what they found the most helpful; what they wish they had tried. They meet people where they are at (no matter what stage of recovery), from a real on-the-ground, relatable place without judgement. Peers help introduce options, services and resources specific to a person’s needs, and they help them connect with treatment options and services. Peers are there to support individuals along their journey to wellness, as a compliment to clinical care and support.
What is a Peer?
In mental health, “Peers” are people who have devoted their time to helping others get through difficulties they have experienced themselves. Peers offer empathy, understanding and a safe place to talk about mental health & addiction struggles. They provide support and hope for recovery by the “strategic sharing” of their personal experiences.
Peers have knowledge of the mental health system, addiction resources and different therapeutic modalities. They open, honest, communicators and can be a library for self-help. Peers make it their job to pass their recovery wisdom on to others.
Peers can be found in the community, or in clinical care, and are the most available, accessible and affordable form of mental health and addictions support.
How can I access mental health & addictions Peer Support?
Our team has put together an online list of Peer Support resources and information. While many are provincial (Ontario) resources, some are available across Canada and worldwide. Nearly all are free.
We hope you find this link a helpful place to start: https://linktr.ee/SubstanceU and feel free to contact us for more information.
SubstanceU 