Texas Peer Specialist Core Knowledge Assessment

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1. What are the four core tasks of a peer professional?
2. What are examples of core skills for a peer professional?
3. Over the last year, you have been providing peer support to Nisha. During your last meeting, Nisha gives you a wrapped gift and says that she really appreciates the support you have given her as she navigates the children’s mental health system with her child. Your agency does not have a specific policy on accepting gifts. Which of the responses below would best align with peer professional ethics and values?
4. Which statement best describes mandatory reporting requirements according to the Texas Family Code?
5. What are the factors that make up lived experience?
6. You are meeting with Bruce, a person you support, when they tell you that they have been thinking more and more about ending their own life. You feel really worried for Bruce. What do you do?
7. You are providing peer support to Keke, who has recently decided that they want to change their relationship to alcohol after years of feeling like alcohol has ruined their life. From what you hear, it sounds like alcohol has been really harmful to Keke, and they want to focus on repairing their relationships and getting healthier. They tell you that they do not want to stop drinking all together, but they do not know how to make all of these big changes in their life without giving up alcohol entirely. Which of the following responses is appropriate for you to take ?
8. You are in a meeting with Mel, a person that you have been supporting for the last four months. In your meeting, Mel begins to talk about an experience that she had that she recently identified as a traumatic event. You feel for Mel because this has been a big revelation for her, but it has been the only thing that she wants to talk about in your last four meetings. What do you do?
9. You are in a meeting with Michael, a person you are supporting as he explores which recovery pathways might work for him. In your meeting, Michael mentions that he wants to explore a pathway that you know a lot about from your own personal experience. How could you share your experience with Michael?
10. You are supporting Jay, who shares with you that they experienced racism every day growing up because they were the only person of color in their small hometown. You cannot relate to their experiences because you grew up in a large town and did not have the experiences with racism the way that Jay did. How can you support Jay?
11. You are meeting with Dani, a person you support, and she is having a bad day. She tells you that she feels like she cannot trust herself because she has made so many bad choices in the past, and she begins to cry. She explains that she feels lost and does not know what to do. How can you hold space for Dani?
12. Glenn, a person you support, is telling you about his experience trying to get a job after being released from jail for a drug-related offense. He is really frustrated, and he explains that he feels ready to give up. You also experienced incarceration for a drug-related offense, and you struggled to get a job for four months after being released. What is not a way for you to validate Glenn’s experience?
13. You are supporting Jane, who is trying to help her son get accommodations at school for his learning disability. Jane says that she does not know what to do next, and that the school administrators are not helping her. What question could you ask Jane to create space for exploration of her situation?
14. Ben, a person you support, tells you that he is not getting what he wants out of therapy. He tells you that he has been in therapy for about three months and he feels like he is not “getting better.” He says that his therapist only wants to talk about what he’s gone through, but she never offers any tools for Ben to implement when he starts to feel very sad or angry. This frustrates Ben a lot, and he is ready to give up on therapy for good. How can you reflect back what Ben told you?
15. You recently started a new job as a peer professional in a behavioral health clinic. During onboarding, your supervisor explains that your role on the team is to support the recovery of people receiving services at the clinic by “talking with them about how their treatment is going and then reporting that information back to the team so their services can be adjusted.” You recognize that your supervisor is asking you to do something outside of your professional boundaries. What is not an appropriate response to your supervisor’s statement?
16. You are at work one day when one of your co-workers (who is a licensed social worker) approaches you and says, “I don’t understand what you do here. How is your role any different from mine? I talk with people about their strengths and their goals, and I even sometimes share from my own lived experience.” What is not an appropriate response to their question?
17. Which of the following answers contains tasks that all are within the scope of a peer professional’s practice?
18. What is the primary reason that informed consent is an important practice for peer professionals?
19. What are the four considerations a peer professional should use when making a decision related to peer support practice?
20. What are the principles of peer support?