Also called: Peer Recovery Coach, Certified Peer Specialist
Uses their own lived experience with mental illness or addiction to help others recover.
Sits with someone in the ER after an overdose and says 'I've been there.' Helps clients get to appointments, find housing, and build hope. The job turns a hard past into a strength.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 0 years after high school. Lived experience plus a state peer specialist training (about 40-80 hours) and certification.
Ways in: Certification, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Growing much faster than average. Growing quickly as states fund peer services.
Low risk for 10 years. The job is shared lived experience; AI can help with scheduling and resource lists, not with being someone who's been there.
Classes: Health, Psychology, Speech.
Official data: O*NET occupation 21-1099.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.