Waccamaw Center for Mental Health

 Peer Support
 

We Can Help You

Certified Peer Support Specialists (CPSS) offer hope through sharing their own experience in dealing with mental illness and/or substance abuse.

We provide an ongoing support system through group & individual care to cope with barriers and work towards client goals.

Peer support services assist adults who are living with mental illness and/or substance abuse. Services are person centered, focusing on

strengths, abilities, needs and recovery goals.

GOALS OF CPSS (Certified Peer Support Services):

1. Assist clients in becoming empowered through self-advocacy skills:                                                               

        a.)Addresses stigma and discrimination against themselves and their peers                                  

        b.)Encourages taking a proactive role in treatment                                                                                                         

        c.)Emphasizes discussing concerns about medications or diagnoses with the physician or nurse                   

        d.) Encourages clients to participate in system advocacy (making phone calls or writing letters about mental health issues or

             speaking about mental illness to an audience)

2. Assist clients in learning self-help techniques                                                                                               

        a.)Cultivates the ability to make informed, independent choices                                                                           

        b.)Helps clients develop a network for information and support

3. Assist clients in learning self-improvement techniques and skill development:                                                                

        a.) Involves planning and facilitating specific, realistic activities that lead to increased self-worth and improved self-concepts

4. Provide crisis support:                                                                                                                                                     

        a.)Assists the clients with the development of a crisis plan                                                                        

        b.)Teaches clients how to recognize the early signs of relapse                                                                                     

        c.) Teaches clients how to request help to prevent a crisis                                                                          

        d.) Teaches clients how to use a crisis plan

5. Assist clients in obtaining services/information and using community and natural supports that meet their individual needs in a recovery process

In Georgetown County

For more information contact Waccamaw Center for Mental Health

"I remember when I had about 90 days clean and sober. I was sitting in the hall at 1602 in Wilmington, NC. The reality of who I was came to me in a moment of awakening. Ok, that’s not the truth, it came to me in the voice of a hard nosed woman who, after I shared with her that I wanted to get wasted responded to me by saying, “you can go get high. You can go prostitute, you can lose you’re kids, you can lose your house, and I’ll be here when you get back”. I walked away stunned by the echoing of her voice revealing the shrill substance of what and who I had become. Wrecked by that “awakening”, I decided to allow her and hundreds of women since to inspire me to become whatever it is my heart desired.

So over the years, as in my addiction, I’ve tried many “suits” on. Am I the kind of girl who likes to cook, am I the girl who likes romance novels, am I a soccer mom, am I a student, teacher? By borrowing the shoes of other women I aspire to be like, I’ve taken many winding journeys through my impressions of others identities. I’ve learned a lot about who I am, who I am not, who I want to become and even who I am impossible of being. I haven’t completely learned who I am yet, but I have learned a lot about the possibilities of who I can become through clothing myself in willingness.

~ A dramatic introduction to post the conclusion to “Am I an artist?”~

I vaguely remember in the 8^th grade at Tabernacle taking an art class. Between eating pills and consuming whatever alcohol I could before the bus came in the mornings, I don’t remember much from that year other than I loved my art class, talking to my cousin and the “Get Along Gang”. So, during my school break over Christmas I set out to reveal what my impressions of the artist in my world say about the artist in me…

December sucked for me. It hurt; it was painful and challenged me in a way that I wasn’t sure I’d get through. Drawing and painting this piece helped me process all of it, but by no means made me an artist either. I’m not defined by one thing, idea or dream… this journey isn’t all or nothing. I’m not all good or all bad. I’m not a singer, a reader or a baker. I am flawlessly imperfect, undefined and am capable of doing anything.

~ I love God. He loves me. I’m an awesome mom, dedicated employee, almost perfect student, and an awesome girl friend. The little things matter most to me. I like cooking meals, BUT only once every two months or so and they must require some form of complication, I love drinking coffee ALL day long, I love to smile, make people laugh and I like to feel special, I am a loyal person, I think too much, analyze everything, and can teach 5 year olds the fundamentals of how to play soccer. I love when people make me crafty things. I don’t like sending Christmas cards. I love buying cool cheap things; I love having a plan, I like hanging my clothes up right out of the dryer but rarely do it, I love when my car is clean and smells good. I’m not great at golf, I can’t sing worth a lick, and I pray often for all those in my life, because I am a huge ball of crazy. I want to learn to fish, I want to build something cool that requires cutting wood and using power tools, I want to learn how to shag like those cool old couples that bust out their awesomeness on an empty dance floor. I want to learn to stay. I want to learn to trust. I want to learn to allow things to happen and to find a steady pace in my journey instead moments and events. I want to grow old gracefully and I’d like to leave this world with the impression of something worthy to remember…"