Welcome to the RHA Peer Support for the Deaf and the DeafBlind Training Program!  We are thrilled that you have decided to pursue a Peer Support Specialist career.  Upon completion of the 80-hour Peer Support Training course and the 20-hour Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) course, you will be eligible to receive your North Carolina certification and ready to start your new journey as a NC Certified Peer Support Specialist.

Peer Support, an outgrowth of the 1970’s Mental Health Consumer Movement, has steadily spread to include physical and medical disabilities, mental health, and recovery communities.  Now RHA’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) program is doing our part to spread peer support within the Deaf and DeafBlind communities in North Carolina, by providing peer support services to Deaf and DeafBlind persons in recovery from addiction and mental health crisis.

RHA’s Peer Support for the Deaf and the DeafBlind Training and WRAP Training courses were specifically developed to train peers to work with and within the Deaf and DeafBlind communities.  RHA’s DHH program is committed to providing behavioral health, peer support, recovery coaching, and advocacy supports within Deaf and DeafBlind communities of NC.  This training program is specifically designed to be presented in American Sign Language to Deaf people or fluent hearing signers who wish to become Certified Peer Support Specialists to peers who are culturally Deaf or DeafBlind. During this training you will learn the purpose and role of peer support, how to empower within the community and in the individual lives of peers, how to engage with team members and community supports, how mental health and substance use impacts us and peers, and the importance of professionalism and workplace etiquette.  This training will provide you with the basic skills of peer support work.  We do not want your learning to stop with us.  We encourage you to continue learning and growing as a professional and a fellow peer and to start with us!