I recently read an article about Kentucky’s legislative changes to peer support specialist certification, where a peer support specialist was quoted as saying, “I’m afraid I’m going to lose my own sobriety over it,” in reference to the potential job impacts. I sympathize with the real anxiety and uncertainty these changes are causing—it’s incredibly stressful for anyone in recovery.
That said, the reported quote (even if possibly misquoted or taken out of context) raises a valid broader concern about the role. Peer support specialists draw on lived experience to help others achieve and maintain sobriety, guiding clients through tough challenges—like financial hardship, unemployment, or systemic changes—while modeling resilience. They’re compensated through Medicaid specifically to provide this support: helping people navigate difficult circumstances without relapsing.
If a legislative change affecting employment feels sufficient to threaten one’s own sobriety, it understandably questions whether that person is currently best equipped to guide others through similar or greater stressors. The role requires ongoing personal stability to credibly inspire lasting recovery in clients.
This highlights the need for stronger ongoing training, supervision, and support systems for peer specialists themselves.
As someone in long-term recovery myself—who went through a peer-driven social model program at a long-term facility in Louisville, Kentucky—I know firsthand the incredible power of peers helping others find and maintain sobriety. But in that program, we were firmly taught that you cannot make other people or external situations (like your job) your higher power. True recovery relies on faith in something greater—whether through religion, spirituality, or whatever works for the individual—but it absolutely cannot rest in the hands of fallible humans or human-created circumstances.
For example, if you make your spouse, partner, or relationship your higher power and they leave, the risk of relapse becomes enormous. The same goes for a job: if your sobriety is tied to employment, then a legislative change, business closure, layoff, or any unforeseen threat could unravel everything. As a business owner myself, I deeply empathize with building something meaningful through hard work and facing constant risks that could take it away. But my sobriety does not—and cannot—depend on the success or failure of my company. I can’t imagine starting each day thinking, “If the business goes under, I might get high.” That’s simply not the foundation of lasting recovery we were taught, and it’s not the message we should be modeling for those we’re paid to help.
@jamessweasyI don’t believe in “triggers”. #AddictionRecovery #MindsetMatters #recoverytok #motivation♬ original sound – Sweasy
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