Bridges, Not Barriers is a 2 part mini-course designed to equip Peer Support Professionals with the tools, strategies, and insight needed to support families navigating complex systems and individual challenges. This opening session explores the unique qualities and lived experiences that shape truly impactful Peer Support Professionals.

Bridges, Not Barriers is a 2 part mini-course designed to equip Peer Support Professionals with the tools, strategies, and insight needed to support families navigating complex systems and individual challenges.

In this session, we’ll dive into practical strategies for helping families achieve real, lasting change while navigating their local systems of care, such as: child welfare, juvenile justice, probation/ court involvement, and behavioral health care.

Session 1: The 3 A’s of Culturally Response Care 

Through the use of a scenario, we will challenge ourselves to think about how our personal experiences and identities impact how we engage withy people and communities different from our own. Using the 3 A’s of Culturally Responsive Care, we will explore the difference between cultural competence and cultural humility with the objective of becoming lifelong learners.  

Session 2: It Doesn’t Stop Here, Strategies for Being Proactive  

Expanding upon our work in Session 1, we will collectively discuss the challenges that current realities have on our work as peer support specialists and what we can do to proactively engage through cultural humility.