Peer Support Engagement to Develop Healing Relationships
for Certified Peer Support Specialists (CPSS)
Presented by Dr. Jai Sookram
Videos
The following videos are recordings of Dr. Jai Sookram’s training on “Peer Support Engagement to Develop Healing Relationships.”
Peer Support Engagement to Develop Healing Relationships – Part 1
(Dr. Jai Sookram)
Peer Support Engagement to Develop Healing Relationships – Part 2
(Dr. Jai Sookram)
Description:
Peer support specialists are trained and certified experts in the recovery care model. Their role is to engage people who struggle with behavioral health challenges to become part of a healing community and find their best life in recovery.
The first step and one of the most important components in the treatment process is engagement. In this presentation, we see engagement as creating a social environment of connection and hope, and reducing isolation that frequently accompanies mental health challenges. Engagement is the beginning of an interpersonal and healing relationship. Successful engagement with the person/peer depends on the readiness of both for collaboration. The goal is to facilitate growth/change through support, encouragement, psychoeducation and openness to learn self-regulation. It is guided by understanding, empathy, developing trust and establishing healthy boundaries.
Date Presented: Thurs., May 28, 2026 9:00am – 12:00pm (Central)
Date Training Expires: May 28, 2028
Objectives:
- Explain elements of a healing/helpful relationship.
- Describe the necessity of creating a social environment in which a peer can thrive and accept treatment.
- Practice a process on how to approach their peer and engage in recovery dialogues through which the peer can develop a recovery lifestyle.
- Describe engagement strategies through which their peers can develop a collaborative relationship and develop their personal recovery with daily application to themselves and their peers. This process will help the peer specialist improve their recovery as well.
About the Speaker
Dr. Lilchandra 'Jai' Sookram
PhD
Dr. Jai Sookram earned a doctorate from UNL in Psychology (Teachers College) and served in psychological services in Nebraska and Kansas for over forty years. He developed the curriculum for CPSS services at Community Alliance and has been team teaching the course with Certified Peer Specialists for the last nineteen years. Dr. Jai has been practicing engagement strategies with families and peers on a consistent basis for the past twenty years. He believes that if a person can become socialized into the treatment process, then the chances of recovery are significantly increased. A healing relationship is fostered when both peer and peer mentor/therapist can create an authentic bond based on respect, reciprocity and trust. This presentation is guided by principles championed by Carl Rogers, Albert Bandura, and others involved with positive and humanistic psychology.
These trainings were funded in whole or in part by funds from the SAMHSA Community Mental Health Block Grant, SAMHSA Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant and state funds sub-granted from the Nebraska Department of Health and Services, Division of Behavioral Health.