Be a supporter

A peer is someone we identify with because we have shared identity or experience. This might be age, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, speaking the same language, being a veteran, an immigrant or from the same country or town. 

In mental health, a peer is usually used to refer to someone who shares the experience of living with mental health challenges. Peer supporters offer emotional support, share knowledge, teach skills, and provide advice based on their own experience.

You can read more about peer support including its history and the evidence behind it on the Mental Health America website.

A certified peer supporter has gone through training and received a certification that demonstrates their skills and knowledge. In order to hold the title of certified peer supporter, you must have completed eligible training.

Our peer supporters provide emotional support, teach skills, and share their knowledge and experiences with mental health. They have a wide variety of backgrounds, identities, and experiences. Many are students or recent graduates.

All of our peer supporters have experience with mental health challenges and are in recovery. They are trained and certified for mental health peer support and paid for their work.

As a certified peer supporter in our network, you provide support to other students who want support with their mental health through 1 on 1 video sessions. This is a part-time role that you can do in between classes, after classes, over the weekend, and entirely online. You will gain valuable work experience, be paid for your work, and help your peers thrive.

Students who want support will be able to find certified peer supporters in our network who match their needs, and book support sessions via our digital platform.

If you already have done peer support training elsewhere, you can apply directly to become a peer supporter without completing the trainings we offer*.

Here’s how to get involved:

1. Complete the application on our careers page.
2. Interview with Flourish Labs team.
3. Complete training (cost covered by Flourish Labs). Complete a post-training assessment to earn your state certificate. *If you are already a certified peer supporter, you can skip this step. 
4. Get onboarded on our peer support platform peers.net.
5. Start peer support sessions!

Ideally, all our peer supporters can provide a minimum of 5 hours of support per month. You can build your schedule around your classes, sports practices, and club meetings. Your availability could be any hours of the day/night.

The hourly wage depends on the state you would be working from. We will provide more information about this during the interview stage.

We are partnering with Youth Era to offer peer support training.

• Youth Era’s PeerPlus training is a forty-hour Oregon Health Authority (OHA) approved training for Peer Support Specialists that is tailored to fit the needs of youth and young adult peer support providers. All Youth Era trainers have lived experience of mental health challenges, and vast experience in peer support. 

• We are also currently building out and designing our own training platform, which should be live in April 2023. This will provide a 40 hour (35 hour asynchronous and 5 hour synchronous) certification. You will learn how to assist people in developing recovery objectives, practice self-empowerment tactics, and take meaningful actions toward establishing fulfilling, self-determined lives. 

Some of our training courses are intensives with 4 hours a day, while others are more spread out and self-paced. PeerPlus takes place over a two week period from 10 am-4 pm PST every day. Flourish Labs Peers Training course is a 40 hour training course that you can do (mostly) on your own time.  

Currently, all our training programs are delivered online via Zoom, so you can participate from anywhere with a good internet connection and privacy. We might offer on-campus training events at our partner colleges in the future.

You will learn a variety of skills that enable you to be a peer supporter, but they might also come in handy in other parts of your life!

• Listening skills. You will learn about active listening skills, validating, and asking open-ended questions to better understand the peer you are working with.
• Building rapport. You will learn how to quickly build rapport with your peers that deepens your relationships and builds trust.
• Focus on strengths. You will learn how to identify strengths in yourself and in other people to help them reach their full potential.
• Self-care. You will learn about the importance of self-care, and how to teach others the importance of prioritizing their own wellness.
• Coping. You will learn about important coping skills and brainstorm activities for you and your peers to utilize in the future.
• Safety. You will learn how to keep yourself and your peer safe, and when to get help from a peer support supervisor.

We welcome a diverse group of participants from all walks of life. To apply, you need to:

• Be 18-33 years old
• Have lived experience of mental health challenges or emotional distress or trauma.You do not need to have a formal diagnosis of a mental health condition
• Be willing to share your story in the context of peer support
• Have been active in your recovery/wellness journey, and out of inpatient and/or hospitalization for at least 6 months
• Have a High School Diploma or equivalent (GED, HiSET, etc)
• Be enrolled in a college or university

Our next training cohort will begin April 1, 2023 and applications are open!

Flourish Labs will cover the cost for supporters to complete the training once they have passed our interview process.

Yes! After you complete either the Youth Era or Flourish Labs training and pass the examination, you will become a certified peer supporter in your state.

peers.net by Flourish Labs is a new mental health support network for students. On peers.net, students can book 1 on 1 video sessions with certified peer supporters. Early access is available now for 18-25 year olds based in California, Oregon, or Washington State. We are expanding to more states and age groups soon.