BENEFITS OF ALLY AND PEER COLLABORATIONS IN RECOVERY WORK
Recovery Allies and Peer Recovery Support Specialists are highly resourceful individuals who can work collaboratively through actions that align with recovery principles. By working together from a science-based position and incorporating all aspects related to culture, diversity, and other relevant factors, they can become a powerful resource to bridge all necessary systems, from grassroots to the top, in a way that ensures recovery is not just treated, but lived.
In addiction recovery, we now understand the importance of Recovery being supported by peers and allies, and also the need to consider that recovery is culturally-based and influenced. In the same breath, recovery is strength-based; therefore, individual, family, and community strengths should always be incorporated. Most importantly, recovery support service providers (allies and peers) must adhere to professional standards and ethics. The Peer recovery ally brings professional training and system navigation, and the peer support specialist offers lived experience and emotional relatability.
At the family and community levels, recovery awareness events and stigma-reduction campaigns can come in handy to facilitate access to housing, employment, and wellness services while creating inclusive spaces in faith-based and cultural settings. Recovery support professionals can conduct joint family education workshops, offer peer-led storytelling and ally-led psychoeducation, while being steadfast in providing trauma-informed support. Recovery support service providers need to consider situations that call for referrals, for a holistic approach that involves other professionals and social networks.
At the national level, the recovery professionals can advocate for recovery-friendly policies and funding, be at the forefront to participate in national forums and advisory boards, and be willing to develop training programs for peer certification and ally engagement at the national and county levels. When we have a bigger support base for those in recovery, there is increased hope because recovery emerges from hope and different pathways.
Allies and Peers will need to maintain confidentiality, avoid dual relationships, and be sure to respect informed consent and autonomy of the people they support. While the recovery ally advocates for policy and institutional change, the peer support specialist helps to build trust through shared recovery journeys. We know recovery is not a destination but a journey of continuous growth and attainment of wellness.
In such a structured approach, the recovery ally would connect families and communities to resources, while the peer recovery specialist comes in to model hope and resilience through personal stories. Sammy Ombisa (Recovery ally - Kenya) and Onesmo Rupil (Peer recovery - Tanzania) are two ISSUP Global members practising this collaborative approach, and it is a very promising endevour to make recovery possible and a reality.
