Designed for individuals with lived experience ready to begin their peer specialist certification. This is the required first training for anyone pursuing Mental Health Peer Specialist (MHPS) or Recovery Support Peer Specialist (RSPS) in Texas.
Complete your Core Training in just 3 days
Learn foundational peer support principles, ethics, and communication skills
Master trauma-informed support and crisis response techniques
Practice peer-based communication through interactive exercises and role-play
Understand the certification pathway and next steps for your specialized training
100% Virtual
100+
Peers Certified
Investment
$300
Features
Path to becoming a Mental Health Peer Specialist (MHPS) or Recovery Support Peer Specialist (RSPS)
Training certificate included
Scholarships available
Details
3 Days x 8 Hours
24 Hours
9 am to 5 pm CT
A Peer Specialist is a trained professional with lived experience of mental health challenges, substance use recovery, or both, who provides support to others on similar journeys. Peer Specialists offer hope, shared understanding, and practical guidance rooted in their own recovery experience. They honor that recovery is self-defined and support people in discovering what works best for them. They do not provide therapy or clinical treatment, but serve as equals who understand the journey firsthand.
Recovery support and wellness, which includes providing information on and support with planning for recovery;
Mentoring, which includes serving as a role model and providing assistance in finding needed community resources and services; and
Advocacy, which includes providing support in stressful or urgent situations, and helping to ensure that the recipient’s rights are respected.
This is the required 20-hour foundational training that gives you the core skills, principles, and ethics needed to begin your journey as a peer professional in Texas. Whether you’re pursuing Mental Health Peer Specialist (MHPS) or Recovery Support Peer Specialist (RSPS), you’ll learn the universal foundations that make peer support effective across all settings.
From lived experience to crisis response, you’ll graduate ready to pursue your specialized certification with confidence.
Understanding what peer support is, the principles that guide it, and your role as a peer professional.
Defining recovery as a self-determined journey and learning to honor multiple pathways.
Applying peer support ethics and navigating ethical decision-making in real-world situations.
Building trauma-informed practices and responding effectively to crisis situations.
Mastering peer-based communication: listening, holding space, validation, asking questions, and reflection.
Individuals with lived experience of mental health or substance use challenges ready to pursue peer certification.
Volunteers or informal peer supporters looking to formalize their skills with recognized certification.
People seeking meaningful work where their personal journey becomes their professional strength.
Anyone exploring peer support careers and wanting to start with the required foundation training.
Individuals called to help others navigate challenges they’ve personally overcome.
This is your essential first step toward Mental Health Peer Specialist (MHPS) or Recovery Support Peer Specialist (RSPS) certification, the foundation Texas employers recognize and require.
Our facilitators at Peer Academy are certified Mental Health and Recovery Support Peer Specialists who bring both professional credentials and personal lived experience to the training. They’ve navigated the mental health and recovery system themselves and now guide others through the certification process with insight, empathy, and practical expertise. You’ll learn from people who truly understand the journey, because they’ve walked it.
Be at least 18 years of age;
Have lived experience with mental health
Have a high school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED)
Be willing to appropriately share your own recovery story with recipients
Be able to demonstrate current self-directed recovery
Pass criminal history and registry checks
Texas Resident or someone who spends at least 51% of their time working in Texas in-person or remotely.
Criminal justice settings (jails, prisons, specialty courts, probation and parole, etc.)
Community outreach programs (where peer supporters go into the communities where people live)
Hospitals and Inpatient Treatment Centers (psychiatric hospitals, general medicine hospitals, substance use treatment centers, and Veterans Administration hospitals)
Outpatient clinics (Federally Qualified Health Clinics, mental health clinics, substance use treatment clinics)
Peer-run organizations (Consumer-Operated Service Providers, Recovery Community Organizations, and other groups that are run by peer supporters and/or people in recovery)
Residential settings (domestic violence shelters, residential settings for people in substance use recovery, shelters or residential settings for people experiencing homelessness, etc.)
Virtual settings (app-based services, teleconferencing, chat-based support, etc.)
And many more!
The certification process for Mental Health Peer Specialists and Recovery Support Peer Specialist in Texas involves completing formal training and a supervised internship. During this internship, individuals receive supervision and support from a Peer Specialist Supervisor.
Full certification can be achieved in as little as 6 months, but may take up to a year to complete the work experience hours and application process, which varies according to each person’s pace.
Completing the online orientation is the first step to becoming a certified Peer Specialist in Texas. This orientation will provide you with an overview of the career field, help you gauge your readiness, and ensure you meet the eligibility requirements for obtaining your certification. You can do the orientation for free here:
Texas Peer Specialist Orientation and Self- attestation
Once you read through the self-assessment questions and orientation resources, you will need to sign and download the completion pdf. Which you will need to upload this during your training registration.
The Core training is a 3-day 24 hour, online training that will give you a comprehensive overview of what peer support is, and what peer specialists do, and familiarize you with the role and functions of a Peer Specialist.
Our 40-hour, 5-day MHPS Supplemental training is available 100% online and helps you learn and practice the essential skills for a Mental Health Peer Specialist. To move forward with your state application, you must also pass a knowledge assessment at the end of the course
View upcoming MHPS/RSPS Supplemental training opportunities.
After completion of Core and MHPS training, you can start your application with the Texas Certification Board (TCB) for your 6-month initial peer certification.
TCB uses a digital application called Certemy that you will be uploading information into for the duration of your internship and supervision period.
After being approved by the Texas Certification Board, you will need to complete 250 internship hours under the supervision of a certified Peer Specialist Supervisor (PSS), either in-person or online.
These internship hours can be done on the job or in a volunteer position, as long as they are signed off by a Peer Specialist Supervisor and logged in your Certemy application. Certemy will walk you through how to give PSS access to your application to log your work experience hours.
After completing the necessary internship hours, you will need to complete and submit your Certemy application for the second phase full certification. Include your Peer Specialist Supervisor’s information, all hours logged, and a Letter of Recommendation from your PSS.
After completing your 250 hours, ask your PSS for a Letter of Recommendation. Upload this to your Certemy account and submit it for approval.
Wait for certification; you will be notified by the TCB when your application has been reviewed and approved and will be sent your official Peer Specialist Certification. Note that your certification must be renewed every 2 years.
Learn more about each of these steps with this step-by-step guide. We break down every step of the peer certification process with helpful links and FAQs from the peers we have helped.
Here’s what Peer Specialists say about working in the field and their advice for newcomers.
Day 1
Covers identifying the purpose and goals of the Texas Peer Specialist Core Training and applying group guidelines for participation throughout the training.
Covers identifying the purpose and goals of the Texas Peer Specialist Core Training and applying group guidelines for participation throughout the training.
Focuses on defining the concept of “lived experience” as something so impactful that it becomes part of our identity, applying the concept to participants’ own lives, and recognizing how lived experience is individualized.
Covers recognizing that there is not a universally accepted definition of recovery, analyzing different definitions, identifying multiple pathways of recovery, and employing this value to support persons served.
Focuses on defining peer support as “building genuine human connections through empathy and shared experiences,” describing the principles of professional peer support services, and applying self-determination and dignity of risk concepts.
Covers listing common peer professional activities, differentiating between the approach of peer professionals and clinical staff, and demonstrating basic clarity for the peer professional role.
Focuses on identifying common ethical guidelines for peer support practice, relating guidelines to the role and principles of peer support, and applying the ethical decision-making framework to situations.
Day 2
Covers discussing how peer support grew out of movements to change institutional stigma and applying understanding of worldview to peer support practice.
Covers discussing how peer support grew out of movements to change institutional stigma and applying understanding of worldview to peer support practice.
Focuses on identifying different forms of trauma, recognizing that trauma is one framework for understanding human experience, and discussing trauma-informed approaches to peer support.
Covers defining the concept of holding space, recognizing common listening roadblocks, and assessing how the framework for holding space applies to peer support practice.
Focuses on defining the concept of validation, discussing how validation relates to principles of self-determination and person-centered peer support, and applying peer-based techniques for validation.
Covers naming different forms of questions and appropriate contexts for use, illustrating the ability to ask questions in a peer-based manner, and evaluating question alignment with peer support principles.
Day 3
Focuses on defining the concept of reflection in peer-based communication, recognizing the nuance of effective reflection, and discussing challenges and pitfalls of reflection.
Covers defining informed consent, discussing its importance in peer support practice, and applying the “Ask-Share-Ask” approach to informed consent with persons served.
Focuses on applying principles and ethics of peer support to navigate crisis situations and analyzing situations to understand the difference between big emotions and reportable crises.
Covers identifying warning signs of compassion fatigue and implementing a professional practice for self-care.
Focuses on identifying concrete takeaways to apply in practice and recognizing next steps in the certification process.
The cost of Core Training is $300.
The cost of RSPS/MHPS Supplemental Training is $800.
Yes! Peer Academy offers scholarships covering up to 100% of training costs. Many students complete their training completely free. Money should never be a barrier to pursuing this career path.
The time to obtain full MHPS/RSPS certification typically ranges from 6 months to a year, depending on how quickly you complete the training and the 250 hours of supervised work experience.
Yes, the core training is offered in a virtual format, allowing you to participate from anywhere in Texas with a reliable internet connection.
No. The minimum educational requirement is a high school diploma or GED.
Peer Specialist are not clinicians. While therapists diagnose and treat mental health conditions, peer specialists use their personal lived experience to offer hope, support self-determination, and help people navigate their own recovery journey. Peer support is relationship-focused, not treatment-focused.
Start by completing the free online orientation and self attestation and get the signed completion PDF. Then enroll in core training by completing our application form.
Check the Peer Academy training calendar for upcoming Core and MHPS/RSPS Supplemental training dates.
Transform your lived experience into a meaningful career. Join 100+ peers who’ve made the journey.
