The Peer Support Academy
Our Approach:
Recovery is one of the four pillars of the State Opioid Response (SOR) Network, with the other three being Prevention, Treatment, and Harm Reduction. Here in the South Central SOR Network, we remove barriers to accessing the training needed to provide Peer Services using approaches to these four pillars. We have been so successful that we are now the model for the rest of the state. These approved courses listed below work towards the NYCB renewal process for Certified Peer Recovery Advocates (CRPA) and Certified Addiction Recovery Coaching (CARC). We have REMOVED all costs and offer these LIVE courses via Zoom. These courses are unique, free of cost, and exclusively available here.
Please note that ALL of our peer trainings are OPEN to anyone providing peer support services in ALL settings in NY State. We do provide certificates for renewal of CRPA/CARC peers with 25 certificates issued per class.
Our Courses:
Spirituality in Recovery
Event Date: September 23rd AND 25th, 2025
This two-day course invites you to reflect on your personal beliefs and values around spirituality. It equips you, as a recovery coach, with practical tools and resources to engage in open, inclusive conversations about spirituality with others.
Recovery Coaching to SENIORS!
Event Date: Oct 7th, 2025
This training will describe the special set of circumstances facing the older client population in treatment, recovery, and prevention.
Harm Reduction Primer
Event Date: March 18th, 2025
Learn the basics of harm reduction as a path to recovery, as well as a life-saving tool. Develop and identify a personal ethical approach to harm reduction, and explore ways to work with people utilizing this path.
Accidental or On Purpose? A trauma-informed approach to overdose
Event Date: April 15th, 2025
Many of us have, or will, experience the pain of losing someone to overdose. As peers, we not only have to deal with our own grief, but the grief of the people we work with. From the questions a traumatic loss raises, to community health concerns, overdose is a painful experience. Explore safe and healthy ways to discuss, unpack, and make peace with the loss of someone to overdose.
Friends and Companion: A Peer Ethics Refresher
Event Date: May 20th, 2025
What is the difference between being a friend, and being friends with someone? Explore the peer relationship and define the boundaries of intimacy as a CRPA.
How to Provide Services to Queer Youth and Young Adults
Event Date: June 17th, 2025
Statistics have made it clear that LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults are at high risk for developing substance use disorders. But how do people who don’t identify in the community work with them and offer the unique resources needed by this population? Explore not just the data, but also the human side of providing services to a population outside of your experience.
Adverse Childhood Experiences: A peer approach
Event Date: July 15th, 2025
The people we work with will often share ACEs with us in the course of our work. How do we, as peers, acknowledge these experiences and continue to provide services? Discuss and explore the ways adverse childhood experiences may come up, and what we can do to work with clients on current issues created by them.
CCAR’s Recovery Coaching in the Emergency Department
Event Date: TBD
A 12 C.E.U. class designed to equip skilled coaches to easily adapt and work in a fast-paced ED setting. This course prepares participants for the challenging and rewarding role of a Recovery Coach in the Emergency Department.
Learning Thursdays: Maximizing the Peer Role
Our unique barrier-free approach is a model for the rest of NY State and featured on the NYS OASAS “Learning Thursdays”. Attending this training will provide the opportunity to receive 0.75 CASAC/CPP/CPS renewal hours, and LMHC renewal hours.
Contact Us
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