Coming to the 2026 Winter Symposium!

Join Dë and hear their presentation: The Grit & The Golden Ticket is a deep exploration of the unsung engine of recovery: the Certified Peer & Family Specialist (CPFS). Drawing from over a decade of lived and clinical experience, Dë Waldron unpacks the evidence, ethics, and humanity behind peer integration across every corner of behavioral health. This presentation challenges the notion of peers as “non-clinical supports” and reframes them as evidence-based partners whose impact is both measurable and transformational.

Research confirms that peer-delivered services improve treatment engagement, retention, and long-term recovery outcomes while also reducing relapse and hospitalization rates (Repper & Carter, 2011; Chinman et al., 2014; Pitt et al., 2019). CPFS professionals do more than complement clinical teams; they rebuild trust where systems have failed.

From mental health to substance use, from veteran reintegration to individuals transitioning from incarceration, peers carry a credibility that no credential alone can replicate. They represent the continuum of care that extends beyond the clinic, bridging the gap between systems and the streets, between treatment and true belonging.

Participants will leave this session with a renewed understanding of how peer professionals, when professionally trained through formal education, supported, and valued, can redefine the workforce of recovery. This presentation offers practical guidance for collaboration, supervision, and systems integration while honoring the lived experience that fuels sustainable change. The “golden ticket” is not just a person; it is the proof that recovery is possible for anyone, in any walk of life, when mutual aid and lived experience come together to guide the way.

Intended Audience: Behavioral Health Professionals

1.5 CEs (NAADAC and COPA)