DANIELLE DONALDSON: Welcome to Peer Into Recovery, a podcast with a focus on the profession of peer support. For more information about how to subscribe, please visit our website at www.vprsn.org. Welcome, everyone. I am your host, Danielle Donaldson. In this episode, I’m going to be talking with Cheryl DeHaven about trauma-informed peer support. Cheryl is a person in long-term recovery with 34 years of experience in the behavioral health field. She is the Director of Recovery and Resiliency with Integration Solutions Incorporated and is also currently serving as the Mental Health America of Virginia Warmline Manager. Hey, Cheryl, thank you for joining me today.

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Thank you for having me, Danielle.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: How are you faring in this current situation, the coronavirus situation?

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Yeah, I mean, it definitely brings its own unique challenges. And, you know, for a person who lives with, you know, mental health issues, it certainly can escalate those issues a little bit, you know, and for me, the isolation can make depression, you know, more apparent. Yeah, so it brings its own unique challenges, but I’m very fortunate to have lots of coping skills and ways that I can manage that and do well. So thank you for asking.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: Oh, no, thank you. So you have over 16 years of experience serving in the peer support profession as a recovery specialist, a peer recovery specialist, a coordinator, a trainer. How did you get started?

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Yeah. So for me, my first introduction to working in the field of behavioral health came when I was doing a NAMI in our own voice presentation, and a provider who works at a community services board approached me and let me know that there was a job opening at a community services board and one of their partial hospitalization programs. And they hired people with lived experience in recovery. And so I was immediately attracted to like, yes, yes, I would love to use my experience to work and help others. And so I was able to get the job working in a partial hospitalization program.
And that was just the very beginning of, you know, learning what it meant to serve in. The services system of care and use my lived experience then to help other people. So that was my first introduction. And once I got that job, I did that for a couple of years. And the one thing that struck me was that people, the counselors that were working there had bachelor level degrees. And I was like, oh, I’ve always wanted to go back to college. So let me see if I can get a bachelor’s degree and come back and work as a counselor. Because then I had more opportunities to make more money. That way. And so I ended up getting my bachelor’s degree. But it turned out by the time I got my bachelor’s degree, I got hired in under the planning and marketing division and started serving as the consumer and family member, public information specialist. So really networking with the organization, marketing, obviously, working with the organization’s connection to their local NAMI chapter, to the local SAARA affiliate kind of serving as a liaison, and the person from the agency who supported those other organizations. And then, you know, it just, the story keeps on going, and then eventually I end up coordinating, and supporting other peers working within the agency, and different types of programming, looking at opportunities like other states to get this to be a Medicaid billable service, working with other advocates and champions for peer recovery specialists around the state, and being able to just help the profession grow, and eventually get realized as we finally did get Medicaid reimbursement and formalized training. And I’ve just had amazing opportunities in this field to grow as the profession has grown and evolved.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: Yeah, and there’s so many different ways that you can work as a peer recovery specialist. That’s what’s, you know, I think most people experience it from the start, you know, one-to-one, but it really is growing and expanding, and it’s becoming more diverse in the types of services you can provide. So that’s really, it’s fun to watch the progression and how this profession has changed over the years and continues to grow.

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Yeah, and I think what really stood out for me in the beginning was that, I mean, I knew about, you know, getting treatment for drugs and alcohol issues. We were immediately introduced to 12-step recovery program, and that’s how we got peer support, you know, we got to be with other people who understood, they role-modeled recovery and what that looked like, and so you’re automatically connected to that community. But for me, with mental health, I was seeking services, getting services, going in the hospital, psychiatric hospital on occasion, through therapy and psychiatrists. And for years, I went engaged in services and was never introduced to people in recovery with mental health issues. And until 2002, I finally was introduced to NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness. And that was my first introduction to people in recovery with mental health issues. And it was life changing. I was like, oh my gosh, we got to let people know that there are people in recovery with mental health too. And how do we all support one another and role model? And how is everybody managing and dealing with this and trying to live a life where we can thrive and have a fulfilling, meaningful purpose? And so that was like, we’ve got to get more people connected to peers, you know, especially in mental health too. So it’s been amazing to see the growth in the last probably 10 or 15 years of really bringing together peer support, not only for substance use, but also for mental health issues as well. And then integrating them into different types of systems of care, like you just mentioned, we can work in at any level of care, from, you know, working in crisis level care, to working at a peer center or on a warm line like we have at Mental Health America of Virginia, just to offer support to people.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: Yep. So I know that you’ve gotten more and more involved, and you’re very passionate about trauma-informed care. What sparked your awareness of that and why it’s important?

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Yeah, that’s a really good question. You know, I just want to say that probably, I’m not sure what sparked that awareness, but I think for sure, having the opportunity to work with Dr. Allison Jackson, with Integration Solutions was probably the most awareness that I’ve ever had about trauma-informed approaches, and that impact of trauma on people’s wellness and how we can heal, help heal people and help build resiliency. But, yeah, so just working with her maybe like three or four years ago, and learning from her really sparked my interest. And I always wondered and wanted to make sure that as peer recovery specialists, that we had the training and knowledge to not do more harm than good. And or to drift what we call peer drift, to drift from being a peer recovery specialist into taking on more clinical related. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, where it is. I’m looking forward.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: But yeah, scrolls, scrolls.

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Yes. And I’m not clinically trained to help people address trauma. And so, you know, I want to make sure that I know how to, as a peer recovery specialist, how to work through that when people want to talk about some of their trauma. And what my boundaries are for me and for the person I’m working with, so that we both can keep ourselves safe in the peer support relationship.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: Right. Right. So how does this kind of play out in your daily work? What is it? What is being trauma informed really look like in a typical work day?

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Yeah, for me, it’s just having the knowledge, first of all, of understanding the impact of trauma and how trauma can actually change the chemistry or the neurotransmitters and the way we process emotions. It can impact and wear away parts of our brain that would normally allow us to make rational decisions or be able to process situations that might feel harmful or painful experiences. That trauma breaks down certain parts of our brain and how we manage emotions. And that can cause people to react in ways that might be more escalated than the average person, like the fight, flight, or freeze. And knowing that when a person has experienced trauma, that as a peer recovery specialist, I can actually contribute to rebuilding those neural pathways, and helping that person heal by doing simple things like taking a strength-based approach and really helping the person identify their own strengths and their own power, their own resiliency to manage and get through hard situations, or living with chronic illnesses like mental health and or substance use disorders. And so just having that knowledge is important for me to carry that forward each and every day, is that I really have to focus on helping people realize their own strengths. And empower them to make their own decisions and choices about what’s important to them and how they want to go forward in their life and how they want to go forward and address whatever it is that they’re struggling with. And also to make sure that when I’m doing peer support with somebody and trauma comes up that I let them know, I set boundaries and say that, you know, it’s okay if we talk about trauma in terms of chapter titles, but we really don’t want to get into the content because I’m not clinically trained to deal with that. And to help people find the places where they can deal with some of the hard stories, experiences that they’ve dealt with in their past. And so being able to set the boundaries when it’s appropriate, as best as I can to help them find a safe place to deal with that, those types of issues.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: Right, right. Do you do that like right from the start, or do you just kind of let it play out organically?

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Yeah, that’s a good question. So as a trainer for Peer Recovery Specialists, I always train that if you’re going to be doing services with somebody from, for a period of time, like if you’re working at a mental health organization or substance use organization, providing ongoing peer support, then my thing is that you would tell the person in that initial session, you would set those boundaries right out the gate and say, most, a lot of us have dealt with trauma and they have had trauma experiences. And because we’re developing this relationship, this mutual relationship, there might be times where you feel like I might be a safe person to share things with that maybe you haven’t shared before or that are details about trauma. But I just want to let you know about trauma and what the boundaries are. So I’ll set that right up front and say, we keep it in the chapter titles and why that’s important. Like I just explained. Then sometimes as going through the relationship, I might have to remind somebody if it comes up again. But I like to set that boundary up front. If I’m doing things like working on the warm line or if it’s just a one-time engagement with somebody and then they start to talk about things that are more than the chapter titles around trauma experiences, then I just pause, ask them to just take a moment right then and there to address trauma and say, hey, I hear you’re talking about some really hard stuff right now. I just want to let you know in the peer support relationship that we really need to be careful and keep it in the chapter titles because we’re not clinically trained to deal with this information for both of our own safety and well-being. I can certainly help you find a place where you can process those experiences. But for us, we just need to keep it in the chapter titles. Then I might just have to do it on the spot, so to speak.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: Right. That makes sense. So what kind of steps would you recommend for peer recovery specialists out there who want to be more trauma-informed in their work? Is there anything they could do? I mean, obviously, there’s lots of trainings out there, but are there any quick takeaways they could get that they might be able to put into practice immediately?

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Yeah, I mean, definitely for in Virginia, as peer recovery specialists, one of the modules in our training for the Department of Behavioral Health Developmental Services training manual is all about trauma and informed care. And so really, you know, we we get trained in that manual. And a lot of times people just take that manual and then they put it on a shelf, you know, but I encourage people to to get that manual back out. If you’re trained as a peer recovery specialist in Virginia and have gone through the 72 hour training and revisit that module and make sure that you have an understanding about trauma and its impact and then talk to, you know, if you have supervision as a peer recovery specialist, I think it’s really, it’s invaluable to have supervision from a more experienced peer or supervision from a clinician where you can talk about how to process trauma with people and how to set those boundaries. And certainly, there’s training opportunities specifically for peer support and trauma informed approaches. And so one of them that’s been in Virginia is TIPS, T-I-P-S, Trauma Informed Peer Support. And that was developed by Lea Harris. She’s in the Northern Virginia area. VOCAL rolled out some training around the state through Lea and some other of their folks to do Trauma Informed Peer Support training around the state and also train trainers, Trauma Informed Peer Support trainers. And, you know, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to get trained as a trainer in that. And so, there are trainings available, six-hour trainings for Trauma Informed Peer Support that you could look for. Also, you know, on the Internet, if you just searched for Trauma Informed Training Webinar and Peer Support, you would likely find some free accessible recorded trainings that you could look at. Yeah. And so, there’s a lot of more resources that are available at our fingertips these days, you know, with the evolving professional profession of Peer Recovery Specialists.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: Yeah. And I think we’re fortunate or blessed here in Virginia because we do have some really great Trauma Informed Care Specialists and experts that people can find right here in Virginia. So, you just kind of answered a lot of these questions, but do you have any links or groups that you can share? For example, I integration solutions and what those groups might offer as far as Trauma Informed Training goes?

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Yeah. So, I mean, definitely with integration solutions with Dr. Allison Jackson, she is a national, international trauma expert. And what she likes to consider herself now is more as the resiliency expert and building resilience based on the impact of trauma. But she certainly does offer some training and has some resources on her website, just tons and tons of resources at integration solutions.org. One of my favorite trainings that she offers is resilience action planning for peer recovery specialists. And the one-day training consists of really introducing people to the impact of trauma and how that can affect a person, and then how to then take that and use it to help people develop an action plan on how to move forward in their own wellness and recovery. So that’s an excellent training. I’m a TIPS trainer as well, and so you can find my information on that website to take the Trauma-Informed Peer Support Training. Certainly have opportunities to offer that, and it’s a six-hour class. People can just e-mail me from my contact information there, and definitely looking at opportunities to get more training online with the current situation that we’re in today. So, you know, I know with Integration Solutions, we’re definitely going to be building out more education opportunities online for folks too. Yeah.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: Yeah, and that’s probably really helpful for people that live in more remote areas that may not be able to get to a training in a major city. So, to have those types of things available online is fortunate. It might be one of the better things that comes out of the crisis that we’re in right now.

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Yeah. And, you know, for the other thing too is like for Integration Solutions, we can build out a training to meet organization or, you know, specific needs. So, it doesn’t have to be a full day training. It could be a 90-minute training or 90-minute, you know, we could deliver it virtually to a group of people or in-person when we’re allowed to do that again. You know, so we can tailor whatever is needed by the organization as well.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: So, are there any last final words or final thoughts that you’d like to share?

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Yeah, I mean, I definitely wholeheartedly, 100 percent. I mean, we have to really think about how we’re best serving the people that we’re working with. And, you know, it’s super important to me, like I said earlier, is to not do more harm than good. And if I’m not trained in knowing what those boundaries are and how I can best serve an individual, then, you know, that’s just really important. So, you know, taking training, ongoing training is super important to be able to best serve other people and understanding how we can be trauma-informed, trauma-aware is a big part of that. So, yeah, I don’t think we can do this type of work, any type of work working with people in general, especially in health care and behavioral health care or, you know, in criminal justice settings, different environments where we’re working with people who have different types of trauma experiences is that we need to be trauma-trained. We need to be informed in how to best help them recover from that, those experiences and to build them up from something that has broken them down.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: Yeah, that sounds wonderful. Thank you so much for joining me, Cheryl. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this.

CHERYL DEHAVEN: Thank you, Danielle. It’s been an honor and a privilege and opportunity to do this. So I appreciate you asking.

DANIELLE DONALDSON: Great. Well, thanks for listening to the Peer Into Recovery podcast. It’s brought to you by the Virginia Peer Recovery Specialist Network and Mental Health America of Virginia. If you like our show and want to subscribe to the podcast, please visit our website at www.vprsn.org and please leave us a review on iTunes. Take good care of yourselves. Thanks.