ROLE TRANSFORMATION Key Elements to Successfully Shifting from Being a Client to Becoming a Staff...

ROLE TRANSFORMATION

Key Elements to Successfully Shifting from Being a Client to Becoming a Staff Member Presenter: Cynthia Smith, CAC/CPSS, Aiken

Barnwell Mental Health Center

Objectives

The learning objectives for CPSS’s are:1. To understand the benefits seeking services

from outside the mental health center

2. To develop a framework for setting personal and work boundaries

3. Developing an “Work” vocabulary

4. Key Components for Maintaining Your Recovery

History of Clients as Employees at SCDMH

Hiring “clients” or self-identified employees began as an empowerment initiative to bring

current or former users of mental health services to the management tables of

mental health systems as planners, policy-makers, program evaluators, community

educators, and service providers.

Two Types of Self-identified Client Employees

1. Client Affairs Coordinators are internal agents of change who voice the client perspective during key meetings and policy sessions.

2. Certified Peer Support Specialists are persons who have successfully demonstrated their own efforts at self-directed recovery and who provide recovery skill building services to clients.

CPSS Employment Challenge

One of the toughest

moves for some peer

support specialists to

make is the shift from

the client to the provider

role.

client

staff

WHY Is It A Challenge?

Because staff may still look

at you as a “client” and clients

may see you as “staff”.

They both may do this without

understanding that you did or

still do receive mental health

services.

Employment – Service Policy

Although there is not a SCDMH departmental policy that states you cannot work where you receive services, many centers have adopted policies that does not allow this to happen.

It is NOT a good idea to work where you receive

services for several reasons.

Reasons for Seeking Services Elsewhere

1) Allows you to identify

yourself as a staff member

at the agency you work

and be treated accordingly.


2. Allows you to keep personal and professional life separate.

If you receive services where you work, your personal information is available and may be known to staff.

Receiving services outside the agencyallows you to keep your personal business private.


3. Ethics and policies become difficult to enforce and are blurred.

As a client you are entitle to all services and guidelines as any other client; however, as a staff member you have to abide by the policies and procedures of all DMH staff.

This can become a gray area.


4. Returning to “client role” in the event employment does not work out.

In the event employment does not work out the transition back to the client role can extremely difficult and awkward.

You now know private information about

your peers and staff.

Setting Personal & Work Boundaries

Boundaries: Some Key Points

1. Your recovery expertise and experience

got you where you are today.

2. Using them to demonstrate a broad

point or recovery concept is an appropriate

use of your experience.

Five Ways You Can Minimize Problems

1. Don’t bring up personal questions about your illness, symptoms or medications.

2) Develop a crisis plan or recovery plan.3) Develop a strong support system. 4) Continue to use the recovery tools you learned

in treatment.5) Continue with your treatment if needed.

Boundaries & Your Job

Remember you are a

role model for the clients,

helping them to discover

recovery tools they can use

to move forward in their

personal recovery.

Boundaries for All Employees

Employees should

not discuss their

personal problems

with clients.

Boundaries & Clients

Sharing your recovery experience does not

include giving out information about your:

Medications Personal Telephone/Cell Phone Numbers Home Address Personal Family Issues or Problems

More on Medications…

Never make jokes about your medications

Statements such as “ I should have doubled up on my meds today” or “ Excuse me today I forgot my medication”… may be taken seriously by staff and/or clients and can “blow-up” on you.

OOPS!

Your Medications…

NEVER use your medication

or symptoms as an excuse at

work.

NEVER allow anyone else the

opportunity to use them

against either!

STOP

Boundaries: All Employees & Clients

You never have the

right to give out the

personal, private

information of other

employees including

other CPSS’s.

PhoneAddress

Personal Information

Danger of Breaking Boundaries

Seeing you as a

“buddy”, can damage

the therapeutic

relationship because

you may no longer be

seen as part of

the treatment team.

Boundaries & Supervision

And Now A Word From The Supervisors


Understand That Your Supervisor

Is NOT Your “Therapist.”

1) Supervisors have policies to follow. They are

encouraged to refer employees to Employee Assistance

Program for mental health issues.


2) Supervisors cannot provide therapy in the supervisor role.

They are available to provide direction and assistance with your job duties, provide feedback regarding your job performance, lead team meetings and handle clinical issues.


3) Due to nature of the job, supervisors may not have

time to address your personal issues. Many are caring

people who want to see you get help and ensure you get

the time you need devoted to your problems.

Boundaries, Supervision & Crisis Response

At any time employees may need to respond to crises that may involve threats, police, verbal outbursts, and other situations which may

make you feel threatened or uncomfortable.

Before responding you should know & understand your limits.

Boundaries, Supervision & Crisis Response

If you feel threatened or uncomfortable, let

someone else handle the situation and

leave. Staying can endanger your safety and

the safety of others and there is a potential

that the client’s agitation can be escalated.


All staff may to “debrief”

after an incident. This is

when staff can talk

about the incident, how

it made them feel and air

concerns.

This is not to therapy.

Developing an “Work” Vocabulary

I Feel D

epress

edI’m Soo

o

Stressed!

I’m Manic

It’s Overwhelming!

That’s One

of my

Triggers


If you have been a client

of you have probably

developed a “client

vocabulary”. We get

comfortable using these

terms like triggers, off

track, manic, and over-

whelmed.

I’m Sorta Overwhelmed

Today


These are “symptom” words and should be used only with your personal therapist.


When you use a client “ vocabulary”,

staff and other clients may respond to

you as such and question your

wellness.

If you want to step from the client role and

be treated as any other staff member you

have to change your vocabulary.


When responding to codes or stress you need to be able to verbalize what you are feeling in a more appropriate manner.

Instead of “Triggered” you may say..” That code was a "tuff one” to describe how it effected you. Codes can have an effect on all staff…..


Learn and use appropriate the diagnoses and

symptom vocabulary to:

Aide you when diagnosis and symptoms are discussed at team meetings.

To help you more accurately describe to the treatment team problems or issues that the clients you work with may be experiencing.

Components for Maintaining Your Recovery

Danger!

The “ I am all better syndrome”…

Your Recovery

The “ I am all better syndrome” has cost more CPSS staff their jobs than most all other reasons.

When moving into a staff position it can be easy to start wanting to prove you are like everyone else. In the effort to “ FIT IN” some Peer Support Specialists have stopped seeking treatment, stopped taking Medication.

WRONG!!!!

Key Components for Maintaining Your Recovery

The only way to be able to provide clients with the tools they need to move forward in recovery is to

be able to effectively stay in recovery.

Components

Not discussing your

treatment & not using

your symptoms as an

excuse will earn you

acceptance and

respect by staff and

clients.

Your Recovery

Staff know that you have to be, or have been in the past, a client to get this job.

Stopping Treatment Will Not Earn You the

Respect of Staff or Clients.

Points to Remember

1. Seek treatment outside of your center it keeps your treatment issues separate from your work responsibilities.

2. Allow yourself to stay well

3. Do not assume that because you are a self -identified staff that other staff do not also seek treatment. We are not the only staff within DMH that may get mental health services nor are we the only staff to openly uses our treatment and recovery skills to help others.

Remember

One of the greatest

thing about being a

CPSS is that probably

for the first time you did

not have to hide your

diagnosis to obtain

employment.

Mental Illness

Recovery Keys

Don’t start being ashamed about being a client now.

To keep the client part of you healthy you will never need your coping skills more than you do now.

Remember… Staff and clients will treat you the

by the way you act today.

QUESTIONS

What I always wanted

to ask but was afraid

to……..

Finally Remember…

All self-identified employees serve as

recovery role models for each client,

staff, family and community

member they come into contact with.

The willingness to publicly disclose

their mental illness and triumphs

associated with recovery go a long

way in dispelling the stigma of mental

illness and prove that treatment

works.

Self-Identified Employees Are

HEROS!!!

THANK YOU!!!

ROLE TRANSFORMATION: Key Elements to Successfully Shifting from Being a Client to

Becoming a Staff Member

Cynthia Smith, CAC/CPSS, Aiken Barnwell Mental Health Center

ROLE TRANSFORMATION Key Elements to Successfully Shifting from Being a Client to Becoming a Staff...

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