Foundational documents on what peer support is, its ethics, and how it differs from clinical roles. Together these three sources are among the most load-bearing content in the whole library for a Peer Coach — they define the role itself.

The 12 Core Values of Peer Support

Sources: "National Practice Guidelines for Peer Supporters" (National Association of Peer Supporters / SAMHSA, original 2013 version) and "National Practice Guidelines for Peer Specialists and Supervisors" (N.A.P.S., 2019 revision, which adds supervisor-side guidance to the same 12 values)

Both documents build on SAMHSA's working definition: "Recovery is a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential." Peer support is the process of giving and receiving non-clinical assistance toward that kind of recovery, delivered by people with lived experience trained to support others.

The 12 core values, each with its practice translation:

1. Peer support is voluntary. People freely choose to give or receive it; coercion of any kind is against its nature. A peer supporter can also decline to work with someone if their own background or lack of expertise would get in the way — and should refer out rather than force it.
2. Peer supporters are hopeful. They model recovery as real and possible, sharing their own story strategically in relation to what the other person is currently facing.
3. Peer supporters are open-minded. "Meet people where they're at" even when their beliefs or approach to recovery differ sharply from the supporter's own. Don't evaluate or assess — connect.
4. Peer supporters are empathetic. Listen with emotional sensitivity; don't assume you know exactly what someone else feels just because you've had a similar experience — ask, and listen.
5. Peer supporters are respectful. Treat everyone with kindness, warmth, and dignity; embrace differences as learning opportunities rather than problems to manage.
6. Peer supporters facilitate change. Stay alert to anything dehumanizing or degrading — including how a person treats themselves — and use personal story and advocacy as tools for positive change.
7. Peer supporters are honest and direct. Clear, compassionate communication about hard things (stigma, abuse, oppression, crisis, safety) builds trust; privacy and confidentiality matter.
8. Peer support is mutual and reciprocal. Both people give and receive — this is fundamentally different from a traditional helper/helped dynamic.
9. Peer support is equally shared power. No diagnosing, no exercising power over the person being supported.
10. Peer support is strengths-focused. Focus on what's strong, not what's wrong. Don't fix or do for someone what they can do for themselves.
11. Peer support is transparent. Be clear up front about what can and can't be offered in the relationship; use plain language; make only promises you can keep.
12. Peer support is person-driven. People have the right to make their own decisions, try new things, and learn from mistakes — the supporter's job is to encourage that, not to steer it.

Key terms worth knowing (from the 2019 glossary):

• Co-optation / "peer drift": the well-documented tendency for peer specialists working alongside clinicians to gradually adopt clinical language and quasi-clinical roles, drifting away from peer support's actual values and standards. Worth naming and watching for in any setting where peer staff work embedded with clinical teams.
• Cultural humility: an ongoing process of openness, self-awareness, and self-reflection when interacting with people from different cultures — not a credential or a box to check, but a "way of being."
• Trauma-informed approach: shifting the guiding question from "what's wrong with you?" to "what happened to you?" Six key principles: safety; trustworthiness and transparency; peer support; collaboration and mutuality; empowerment, voice and choice; and attention to cultural, historical, and gender context.
• Peer supporters explicitly do not diagnose, prescribe, or monitor medication — this is a defining, non-negotiable boundary of the role in both documents.

What Is Youth Peer Support (YPS)?

Source: "What is Youth Peer Support?" — resource developed by C4 Innovations for SAMHSA's BRSS TACS project

Youth peer support connects young people who have mental health or substance use challenges with young adults who've faced similar challenges and been trained to use that experience to help others. It shows up across many settings: clubhouses, recovery centers, Wraparound programs, drop-in centers, schools, child welfare and homeless service programs, juvenile justice.

What a youth peer support worker actually does: one-on-one coaching and advocacy; facilitating peer support and leadership groups; encouraging active participation in treatment; helping youth navigate services; coordinating community events; strategically sharing personal story to promote hope; and — notably — participating in public policy and systems-change work, and serving as a bridge between service providers and the young person.

Why age match matters specifically for youth (not just "peer" in the abstract): younger peer support workers may have more current, relevant firsthand experience with the systems and services young people are navigating right now, compared to an older peer supporter whose experience may be more removed. Youth-specific models also lean more heavily into supporting connections to school, family, and peers, and into early intervention, than adult-oriented peer models do.

Evidence cited: young people are more likely to turn to peers than professionals before seeking help, and where YPS is available, youth report greater satisfaction with services. Associated benefits (early/ongoing research, not fully settled): increased self-esteem, social support and functioning; decreased substance use, depression, and psychotic symptoms; increased engagement in self-care; reduced hospital admission; increased sense of control and empathy.