Experiences at AMI

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I work with a team of Peer Mentors and we have a staff meeting once a week to discuss without using the last name of our peers how things are priogresing with them or any problems we may perceive The Peer Mentors, Certified Peer Specialists and Psych/Social workers along with the Program Director and Executive Director all work in unison as a Team...

An agency

Be essary to be an effective Peer Mentor. Remeber that you are working with peple with special needs and therefore act accordingly. Your job as a Peer Mentor is to help the Peer help themselves. Your job is not to do things for them. You must also keep in mind that it is unethical for a dual relationship to exist. There is aline that must not be crossed either way.

Do not miss work.

Attend all staff meetings

Don't take the job unless you are compassionate towards others....

We are all subject to mental illness and may succumb to the addiction of alcohol, illegal drugs, or presription drugs. I do not judge others, as realize we all have our story. So much of the problems we experience as young children play a major role in mental illness later in life. So, as parents we must be particularly careful to treat our children with the right amount of love and discipline....

Helping othershelp themselves.

Seeing the pride my clients take in their accomplishments

The satisfaction I take in knowing I am doing something really meaningful

Working with these dear people makes me feel grateful for all I have

I had one client, a Vietnam veteran who was living in a group home. His wife had him placed there. He had been exposed to agent orange and also suffered from post-tramatic stress disorder. He also had diabetes. He wanted to get a car. His wife would not permit his getting a car as she realized he did not have the ability to drive as he had problems before with that matter. I had to visit him once a week and try my best to keep him positive.He told me he had several photos he took in Vietnam and he stated he would like to have an exhibit at the local library. Every Monday we at AMI have a staff meeting and we al discuss what we did with our clients that week. Every time Larry's name came up my supervisors really didn't want to hear much about him. I never gave up on him but took him to the library and spoke with the librarian and received approval for an exhibit of his photographs. ne wek later he died. The hardest problem I have to solve is looking at a photo over my desk of Larry and me taken at the group home where he lived....

Many of my clients are not motivated and some are mentaly challenged to the point that communication is nearly imposssible. Nevertheless, I have the responsibility to remain patient, stay focused, and continue to not give up on them so they can not give up on themselves.

II have the responsibility of mentoring clients who have been diagnosed with severe mental illness, visiting them in group homes or their individual home. I help to empower these people who, in many cases, have been abused in a variety of ways. My goal is to help them become a viable part of society once again by regaining their self-esteem. I listen and provide them with a person with whom they can feel comfortable as we work together on putting their lives back together....

You must be highly motivated and in my case willing to learn an entirely new field. You must sincerely care about others You must be patient and compassionate with a sincere desire to help people who have been diagnosed with severe mental illness and/or drug and/or alcohol dependency get on and stay on the Road to Recovery. You must be highly organized and a good listener and most importantly you must be believable by the clients as trust is an extremely important commodity. The ability to communicate effectively in many ways is necessary as verbal communication is not always possible....