Designed for qualified behavioral health professionals (QCC, LPHA, QMHP-CS, or QPS) who want to provide effective supervision to certified peer specialists. Here, supervisors learn to ensure role clarity, champion recovery-oriented practices, and support the ongoing professional growth of peer specialists within their organizations.
Complete your 40-hour PSS supplemental training in just 5 days
Learn from certified facilitators with lived experience in recovery
Master peer support skills: recovery storytelling, harm reduction, advocacy & documentation
Practice real-world skills through interactive exercises and role-play scenarios
Get step-by-step guidance through the full Texas certification process
100% Virtual
Peers Certified
Investment
$300
Features
Path to becoming a Peer Specialist Supervisor (PSS)
Training certificate included
Scholarships available
Details
16 Hours (2 Days x 8 Hours)
40 Hours
9 am to 5 pm CT
A Peer Specialist Supervisor (PSS) is a person who supports and guides peer specialists after they obtain their certification. A PSS will oversee peer specialists while they provide the necessary components of peer work, such as giving recovery-oriented peer services, skill-building, ethical problem-solving, optimizing professional growth, and performing administrative duties.
This supervision may also extend to overseeing aspects specific to the organization where a peer specialist is working. This would include things like learning organization-specific policies, or performing and understanding distinct administrative matters.
The role of a PSS is important and ongoing since supervision is consistently required for any peer specialist after they obtain certification. Supervision is likewise required in any organization that implements peer specialists.
This is a comprehensive 16-hour certification training that equips qualified behavioral health professionals with the specialized knowledge and frameworks to effectively supervise certified peer specialists. You’ll learn how to generate role validity, champion meaningful peer roles, and become a change agent within your organization while ensuring quality, ethical peer support delivery.
From recovery principles to advocacy, you’ll graduate with the supervisor competencies Texas peer specialists and employers need.
Understanding recovery as a nonlinear process with multiple pathways and how to model SAMHSA’s four dimensions throughout your supervision.
Distinguishing peer support from other helping professions and reinforcing its unique values: recovery-oriented, person-centered, voluntary, relationship-focused, and trauma-informed.
Generating role validity through one-on-one supervision, observation, and group sessions that reinforce peer values and prevent role co-option.
Navigating the Texas Peer Specialist Code of Ethics using a three-step decision-making framework for complex supervision scenarios.
Supporting peer specialists through documentation challenges, fair staff development, and reasonable accommodations that honor the peer role.
Qualified Clinical Consultants (QCC) or Licensed Healthcare Practitioners (LPHA) supervising peer specialists within behavioral health organizations.
QMHP-CS or Qualified Peer Specialists (QPS) under appropriate supervision, ready to advance into supervisory leadership roles.
Behavioral health supervisors new to peer oversight who need specialized training in peer support values and appropriate roles.
Program directors implementing peer services who want to ensure quality supervision, role clarity, and organizational culture change.
Anyone responsible for providing the weekly supervision required by the Texas Administrative Code for peer specialist certification.
Anyone called to help others navigate challenges they’ve personally overcome.
If you’re ready to champion the peer support profession and provide supervision that strengthens peer specialists’ professional identity, this is the training Texas Certification Board requires and the field needs.
Our facilitators at Peer Academy are certified Peer Supervision Peer Specialists who bring both professional credentials and personal lived experience to the training. They’ve navigated the 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.
Option 1: Be a QCC, LPHA, QMHP supervised by a QCC or LPHA, or a QPS supervised by a QCC or LPHA. Please read our additional article on clinical eligibility requirements.
Option 2: Have a high school diploma or GED and at least 4 years of work experience as a peer specialist
Option 3: Have an Associate degree or higher and at least 2 years of work experience as a peer specialist
Be at least 18 years of age;
Be able to pass a background check that follows the guidelines set for peer specialists by the Texas Administrative Code. For an easy reference about background check requirements, look at our background check information article.
Be able to demonstrate current self-directed recoveryBe able and willing to follow the ethical guidelines expected of peer specialist supervisors set by the Texas Administrative Code.
Texas Resident or someone who spends at least 51% of their time working in Texas in-person or remotely.
The certification process for Peer Specialist Supervisors in Texas is straightforward and can be completed in just a few weeks:
In order to gain PSS certification, you must:
Professional Qualification (choose one of the following):
Additional Requirements:
Peer Specialist Supervisor training is a 2-day, in-person or online workshop that provides essential information for anyone providing supervision for Peer Specialists. In order to proceed with your state application, you must pass a knowledge assessment at the end of the course.
After you complete the 2-day training, you must begin your application process. Applications for PSS certifications are handled digitally through the online module Certemy. There are multiple application options, depending on your level of education. Be sure to select the right one.
Learn more about each of these steps with this step-by-step guide. We break down every step of the PSS certification process with helpful links and FAQs from the peers we have helped.
Day 1
Covers recalling key concepts from the Texas Peer Specialist Core Training, identifying the purpose and goals of the PSS Training, and applying group guidelines throughout participation.
Explores SAMHSA’s recovery definition, four dimensions, and ten guiding principles, emphasizing recovery as a nonlinear process with multiple pathways that supervisors should model throughout their organizations.
Clarifies that “peer” is relational rather than individual, exploring how peerness exists on a spectrum based on shared lived experiences centered on the person’s primary support needs.
Defines peer support as mutual giving and receiving based on respect and shared responsibility, exploring five core principles through video scenarios: recovery-oriented, person-centered, voluntary, relationship-focused, and trauma-informed.
Distinguishes appropriate and inappropriate peer specialist tasks while emphasizing supervisors’ responsibility for role clarity and fidelity, and synthesizes Texas Administrative Code requirements for training, supervision, and certification.
Day 2
Introduces a three-step ethical decision-making framework for navigating complex relationships and emphasizes applying the Certified Peer Specialist Code of Ethics when supervising peer specialists through ethical dilemmas.
Explores how supervisors support meaningful peer specialist roles while functioning as champions promoting peer support benefits and change agents transforming agency practices to align with recovery values.
Covers generating professional identity through supervision, managing documentation challenges without letting documentation drive practice, supporting ongoing training, and ensuring fair treatment with appropriate reasonable accommodations.
Provides participants with the opportunity to self-assess competency growth throughout training, identify areas for continued development, and recognize this training as foundational for ongoing learning in peer specialist supervision.
The cost of Core Training is $300.
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.
PSS certification can be completed as fast as 1 month after finishing your training. The timeline depends on how quickly you submit your application materials through Certemy and receive approval from the Texas Certification Board. Most supervisors complete the process within 2-4 weeks of finishing the 16-hour training course and passing the knowledge assessment.
Yes, the PSS training is offered in a virtual format, allowing you to participate from anywhere in Texas with a reliable internet connection.
A Peer Specialist Supervisor is not a clinician. While therapists diagnose and treat mental health conditions, a PSS uses their personal lived experience to guide and mentor peer specialists.
They provide oversight, support professional development, and ensure quality peer services, all while maintaining the relationship-focused, recovery-oriented approach that defines peer support.
Enroll in training by filling out our PSS application form.
Check the Peer Academy training calendar for upcoming PSS training dates.
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