Guide V-135

Peer Support South East Ontario

Belleville, Ontario
Client cardCompare
[source: …] where a claim comes from[uncertain] not confirmed in a primary source[synthesis] the writer's reconstruction

1. Introduction

Version followed: Peer Support South East Ontario (PSSEO) as it describes itself on psseo.ca, its 2026 job posting and its regional directory listings (South East Healthline, Caredove, CanadaHelps; accessed October 2026), together with the two named models its centres advertise: Intentional Peer Support (IPS, as presented in a Copeland Center IPS slide deck, 2014) and the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP, as summarised by an Australian WRAP provider). The PSSEO Code of Conduct, its calendar and the official IPS and WRAP manuals are not drawn on here [uncertain].

What it is. PSSEO is not a therapy and not a manualised programme. It is a registered charity based in Belleville, Ontario, governed by a community board of directors. It runs a network of peer-run drop-in centres for adults (16+) who identify as living with mental health and/or addiction issues. Centres are in Bancroft, Belleville ("Freedom Centre"), Brockville, Kingston ("Peers of the Round Table"), Madoc, Napanee ("Peer 17") and Trenton ("New Beginnings"); one directory also lists Picton. It also offers community and one-to-one peer support, including a Community Peer Support Worker role based at the Belleville "Hart Hub" [source: psseo.ca contact and centre pages; South East Healthline listings 73111 and 73118; CanadaHelps; PSSEO posting 100001, Feb 2026]. The CanadaHelps page carries a former corporate name, "Mental Health Support Network South East Ontario Corp". The organisation's founding date and history were not found [uncertain]. It belongs to Ontario's tradition of consumer/survivor initiatives: services "run for and by" people with lived experience of mental health problems, which CMHA Ontario and partners describe as a bridge from formal services back into community life [source: CMHA Ontario et al., CSI policy page; the link to PSSEO is inferred, synthesis].

How change is thought to happen. PSSEO says peer support works through a peer-to-peer relationship built through conversation and shared, collegial activity. The peer supporter uses active listening and appropriately shares their own story, and "walks with" the person for as long as the relationship lasts. The aim is a relationship in which "equals may help each other cope, thrive and flourish" [source: CanadaHelps profile; PSSEO posting 2026]. Its stated core purpose is "Inspiring hope and wellness through intentional peer support" [source: PSSEO posting 2026]. In IPS terms, change comes from moving from helping to mutual learning, from a focus on the individual to a focus on the relationship, and from fear to hope [source: Copeland Center IPS deck].

Who this guide is for. It is written for a psychotherapist who refers clients to PSSEO, works alongside its peer workers, or brings WRAP and IPS-informed ideas into their own work. The clinician does not run the centres, the peer relationship or the WRAP groups. Clinician procedures in section 4B are marked [synthesis].

2. Framework

PSSEO has no treatment phases or session count. It is an open-ended, drop-in and relationship-based service. Below is the published service structure, then a referral pathway for clinicians [synthesis].

Published service structure [source: psseo.ca centre page; South East Healthline; Caredove; PSSEO posting 2026]

  • Access. Free. No referral needed: people walk in or phone. Adults 16+ who identify as having mental health challenges (the listings also mention addiction). Service is in English; Kingston is noted as offering French-language services. Wheelchair accessible.
  • Hours. Most centres open Monday to Friday, roughly 10:00 to 15:00. Kingston is also open Saturdays, and Belleville has Saturday hours. Madoc opens about 9:30 to 14:30. Hours and addresses differ slightly between listings (Napanee shows 58 or 91 Dundas St E; Belleville's Saturday hours vary), so phone before sending a client [uncertain].
  • What every centre offers. Intentional Peer Support; free lunch and coffee; WRAP groups; computers and TV; free laundry; cards, games, crafts, speakers and other groups. Brockville also lists a resource library, and Belleville hosts an on-site needle exchange. Kingston lists some outreach to hospitals and the community and help reconnecting to community and other services.
  • Community peer support. A Community Peer Support Worker offers individual support in the community and/or at a drop-in, for people on recovery or harm-reduction pathways for substance use, toward goals the person chooses. The role requires hospital experience (detox and emergency department) and lived experience. Required certificates: CPI/SMT, WRAP, ASIST, Emotional First Aid and CPR/First Aid. Workers commit to supervision, confidentiality and healthy boundaries, and report to a Peer Support Centre Coordinator.
  • Agency referral. Through Caredove, organisations can ask to become a registered referrer and then send referrals. The stated response time is immediate to two business days.
  • Staffing. PSSEO says peer support is normally provided by paid, accountable staff trained in the discipline, not volunteers alone [source: CanadaHelps].

Clinician pathway [synthesis]

StageGoalTypical contactMove on when
A. Assess fitDecide whether peer support adds something the client wantsPart of 1–2 therapy sessionsClient is interested and no exclusion applies (see 4B)
B. PrepareLower barriers to the first visit1 session, or a few minutes in severalClient knows the centre, hours, what happens there, and has a plan for the first visit
C. LinkMake the first contact happenClient walks in or phones; clinician sends a Caredove referral if registeredClient has attended at least once
D. CoordinateKeep therapy and peer support complementaryBrief check-ins in therapy; peer-worker contact only with written consentClient uses the centre or a peer worker in a way they value
E. Review and step downBuild peer support into the client's long-term wellness and crisis plansEvery 4–8 weeks in therapy, then at dischargePeer support is in the client's own WRAP or safety plan and continues after therapy ends

Certification and fidelity. No licence lets a clinician deliver PSSEO; it is a service you refer to. Its peer workers are expected to hold WRAP training and other certificates [source: PSSEO posting 2026]. IPS and WRAP each have their own training and facilitator routes (the IPS organisation; the Copeland Center for WRAP). Their exact requirements are not drawn on here, so check with those bodies before calling anything you run "IPS" or "WRAP" [uncertain].

3. Guiding principles

PSSEO principles [source: CanadaHelps; PSSEO posting 2026]

  • Peer-centred in every service. In practice: the person's own definition of their problem and goals leads, not yours.
  • Relationship through conversation and shared activity. In practice: lunch, laundry, cards and crafts are how the work happens, not filler. Present them that way to clients.
  • Active listening and appropriate self-disclosure by the peer. In practice: expect peer workers to share their own story. This is intended, not a boundary breach.
  • "Walks with" the person for the length of the relationship. In practice: the relationship is open-ended and has no discharge date. Do not set one for the client.
  • Equality and mutuality. In practice: the client may also give support. Treat that as part of their recovery, not a distraction from therapy.
  • Paid, trained, accountable peer staff. In practice: you can coordinate with peer workers as colleagues, with consent.
  • Self-chosen goals, including harm-reduction pathways. In practice: abstinence is not a condition. Do not make referral conditional on it.
  • Confidentiality, supervision, healthy boundaries. In practice: peer workers have their own confidentiality duties. Share information only with the client's consent.

Intentional Peer Support principles [source: Copeland Center IPS deck]

  • Learning rather than helping. In practice: helping assumes something is wrong and that the helper knows best; learning means both people learn and no one has to change.
  • Relationship rather than individual. In practice: attention moves from what is wrong with the person to what is happening between two people.
  • Hope and possibility rather than fear. In practice: talk about where the person wants to go, not mainly about risks and predictions.
  • Tolerate uncertainty, sit with discomfort, hold multiple truths. In practice: do not rush to resolve disagreements about what an experience means.
  • Peer support as social change. In practice: the deck frames IPS as changing how people understand and relate to one another, not only as better services.

WRAP key concepts [source: SCIA WRAP overview]

  • Hope. In practice: people can get well, stay well and pursue their goals.
  • Personal responsibility. In practice: the person acts to stay well, as they define it.
  • Education. In practice: the person learns about their own experience in order to make decisions.
  • Self-advocacy. In practice: the person asks for what they need.
  • Support. In practice: the person gives and receives support in ways they choose.

Consumer/survivor initiative principles [source: CMHA Ontario et al. CSI page]

  • Run for and by people with lived experience; a partner to formal services. In practice: treat the centre as a partner in recovery, not a lower tier of care.

Clinician stance [synthesis]

  • Collaborate, don't direct. In practice: offer peer support as an option, never a requirement.
  • Respect the peer space. In practice: don't ask peer workers to monitor attendance, adherence or risk for you.
  • Consent governs all information flow. In practice: get written, specific consent before any contact.

4. Intervention inventory

Part A covers what PSSEO peers provide, as published. The clinician does not deliver these. For each, the steps say what the client will experience and what the clinician does to support it. Part B covers the clinician's own procedures [synthesis]. PSSEO does not publish session-level procedures, so steps in Part A that go beyond the cited descriptions are marked [synthesis].

4A. What PSSEO peers provide

A1. Drop-in centre participation

  • Purpose / when to use. Unstructured belonging, routine and practical help: free lunch and coffee, laundry, computers and TV, cards, games, crafts, speakers and groups. Brockville adds a resource library. Suits isolated clients, clients with little daily structure, those with practical needs, and those who distrust formal services [source: psseo.ca centre page; Caredove; South East Healthline].
  • Steps.
    1. Check that day's hours and the calendar. Groups can occasionally change opening times [source: psseo.ca].
    2. The client walks in during opening hours. No referral or intake form is published [source: South East Healthline].
    3. The client joins or watches whatever is happening: lunch, laundry, a game, a group. Peer staff are available to talk.
    4. The client comes back at whatever frequency they choose. There is no attendance requirement [source: South East Healthline: drop in, free].
    5. Clinician [synthesis]: in the next therapy session, ask what the visit was like and what, if anything, they want to return for.
  • Example language (illustrative). "It's a place you can just turn up to: lunch, laundry, a game of cards. Nobody's going to assess you. Want to look at the hours together?"
  • Watch for. Shame about "needing" a mental health centre. Practical barriers in rural sites such as Bancroft and Madoc (transport, the 10-to-3 window). Discomfort if needle-exchange or harm-reduction clients are present. Signs it is working: return visits without prompting, the client naming people there, routines (lunch, laundry) forming around the centre [synthesis].

A2. Intentional Peer Support relationship (one-to-one or in the centre)

Every centre advertises IPS [source: psseo.ca]. The four IPS tasks below are as presented in the Copeland Center deck. The deck describes them, not a session protocol. Part A explains them so you know what the peer is doing; the peer, not the clinician, carries them out.

A2.1 Connection

  • Purpose / when to use. Build a sense of belonging and that "we're in it together", so trust allows both people to learn. Disconnection is expected and repaired [source: Copeland Center IPS deck].
  • Steps (as described). The peer moves attention from the individual's problems to the relationship. The peer notices moments of disconnection and works to reconnect. The cycle runs connection, disconnection, reconnection [source: IPS deck]. Clinician [synthesis]: if the client reports a falling-out with a peer worker, frame it as the expected cycle and encourage them to raise it with the peer directly.
  • Example language (illustrative, peer). "I felt like we lost each other a bit there. What happened for you?"
  • Watch for. A client who hears connection as friendship with no limits. Signs it is working: the client describes the peer as someone they can disagree with and return to [synthesis].

A2.2 Worldview

  • Purpose / when to use. Understand how each person came to know what they know. The deck's trauma-informed shift is from "What's wrong?" to "What happened?" [source: IPS deck].
  • Steps (as described). The peer stays curious about the other person's assumptions and their own, and asks what is going on and what follows from a given assumption [source: IPS deck].
  • Example language (illustrative, peer). "When you say nobody there likes you, how did you come to see it that way?"
  • Watch for. A peer worldview that conflicts with your formulation (for example about diagnosis or medication). IPS asks people to hold multiple truths, so do not ask the peer to "correct" the client [synthesis].

A2.3 Mutuality

  • Purpose / when to use. Redefine help as learning and growing together. The relationship has to work for both people, and responsibility for it is shared [source: IPS deck].
  • Steps (as described). Mutuality shows up in small moments: the peer also says what they need and what works for them [source: IPS deck].
  • Example language (illustrative, peer). "This helps me too. Talking it through reminds me what I've learned."
  • Watch for. Clients with a strong caretaking pattern may over-give. Explore this in therapy [synthesis].

A2.4 Moving towards

  • Purpose / when to use. The energy that comes when two people build new ways of seeing and doing, toward what they want rather than away from what they fear [source: IPS deck].
  • Steps (as described). Listen rather than problem-solve. Make and transform meaning. Redefine mental health. Confront and negotiate power. Work out how to make things work for everyone. Support and challenge each other toward the lives they want [source: IPS deck].
  • Example language (illustrative, peer). "Forget for a moment what everyone says you should do. What would you like your week to look like?"
  • Watch for. Goals that diverge from treatment goals. Treat the divergence as information for therapy [synthesis].

A3. WRAP (groups at the centres; individual WRAP support)

  • Purpose / when to use. WRAP is a self-designed wellness and crisis plan that the person writes and owns. PSSEO centres run WRAP groups, and peer workers are expected to hold WRAP certification [source: psseo.ca; PSSEO posting 2026]. Suits clients with recurring episodes, those who want more control over crisis care, and those leaving therapy. The group length and format PSSEO uses was not found [uncertain].
  • Components (content as summarised by SCIA; wording mine). The person builds each section themselves.
    1. Wellness toolbox. Simple, safe, accessible, often free things that help them stay well or feel better.
    2. Daily maintenance plan. What they are like when well, what they need to do each day, and optional extras.
    3. Triggers and action plan. Events that set off uncomfortable feelings or reactions, and what they will do about them.
    4. Early warning signs. Subtle internal changes that signal it is time to act, with a plan.
    5. When things are breaking down. Signs they are getting steadily worse despite effort, with a plan for immediate action.
    6. Crisis plan. Written in advance for supporters: what they want and do not want, and who should do what, so they keep as much control as possible.
    7. Post-crisis plan. How to return to daily life and what to change in the WRAP afterwards. [source: SCIA WRAP overview]
  • Clinician steps [synthesis].
    1. Ask whether the client has a WRAP or wants one, and suggest the centre's WRAP group.
    2. Once they have one, with permission, use their own section names in therapy (for example, "Is this an early warning sign on your plan?").
    3. Add therapy skills to their toolbox only if they choose to.
    4. Make sure your clinical safety plan and their crisis plan do not contradict each other.
    5. Review the post-crisis plan after any admission.
  • Example language (illustrative). "The WRAP group helps you write your own plan for staying well and for what you'd want in a crisis. It's yours, not mine. Would you like to bring it here sometimes?"
  • Watch for. The plan becoming a clinician's document. Copyrighted WRAP materials: do not copy them, and refer clients to trained facilitators. A WRAP crisis plan does not replace a clinical risk assessment [synthesis]. Signs it is working: the client consults or revises the plan on their own initiative.

A4. Community peer support on recovery and harm-reduction pathways

  • Purpose / when to use. Individual peer support in the community or at a drop-in, for people using substances on either a recovery or a harm-reduction pathway, toward goals they set. Delivered by a Community Peer Support Worker based at the Belleville Hart Hub, with detox and emergency department experience [source: PSSEO posting 2026]. Belleville also hosts a needle exchange [source: psseo.ca]. How a client is assigned to this worker was not published [uncertain]. The Hart Hub's wider service model is not drawn on here [uncertain].
  • Steps [synthesis].
    1. Phone the Belleville centre or coordinating centre to ask how to access a community peer worker.
    2. With consent, share the client's goals (not your treatment goals).
    3. Agree how the client wants therapy and peer work to connect.
    4. Review in therapy what the peer contact is adding.
  • Example language (illustrative). "There's someone who's been through substance use themselves who can meet you in the community, whether you're cutting down, stopping, or just staying safer."
  • Watch for. Pressure toward abstinence from you or others that could push the client out of this service. Overdose risk: make sure harm-reduction and naloxone access are discussed by whoever is appropriate [synthesis].

A5. Hospital and community outreach; reconnection to services

  • Purpose / when to use. Some outreach to hospitals and the community, and help reconnecting to community and other services [source: South East Healthline 73118]. Peer workers are expected to have detox and emergency department experience [source: PSSEO posting]. Useful around discharge from hospital or detox.
  • Steps [synthesis].
    1. Before discharge, ask the client whether they want peer contact.
    2. Phone the nearest centre to ask whether outreach is available to that hospital. Availability per site is not published [uncertain].
    3. Give the client the centre's details on paper.
  • Example language (illustrative). "Some people find it easier leaving hospital if someone with lived experience is waiting on the other side. Shall we ask?"
  • Watch for. Outreach capacity is likely limited. Do not promise it [synthesis].

A6. Groups, speakers and educational programming

  • Purpose / when to use. Educational programming, speakers, crafts and groups are listed. Peer workers facilitate groups [source: Caredove; psseo.ca; PSSEO posting]. Topics are on each centre's calendar, which is not drawn on here [uncertain].
  • Steps [synthesis]. Help the client read the calendar and choose one group that matches an interest rather than a diagnosis. Rehearse arriving and leaving.
  • Example language (illustrative). "Is there anything on the calendar you'd be curious about, even just as a reason to go?"
  • Watch for. Social anxiety. Agree an exit plan in advance ("I can leave after coffee").

4B. Clinician procedures for working with PSSEO [synthesis throughout; eligibility and access facts cited]

B1. Assessing fit

  • Purpose / when to use. Decide whether peer support would add something the client wants. Use at intake, when the client is isolated, near discharge from hospital or detox, or when therapy is ending.
  • Steps.
    1. Check eligibility: aged 16+, identifies as having mental health challenges and/or addiction, and lives within reach of a centre [source: South East Healthline].
    2. Ask what the client wants that therapy does not give: company, routine, practical help (meals, laundry, computers), being understood by someone who has been there.
    3. Ask about past experiences of groups or peer services, good and bad.
    4. Screen for things that need a plan first, not exclusion: acute risk, active intoxication patterns, interpersonal conflict likely to spill into a small community, and recent exploitation or victimisation in drop-in settings.
    5. Note language needs (English; French noted at Kingston) and accessibility. Centres are listed as wheelchair accessible [source: South East Healthline; psseo.ca].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Some people find it helps to spend time with others who've lived through similar things, alongside what we do here. Does that sound useful, or not your thing?"
  • Watch for. Offering it only to clients you find hard to help. The client hearing it as being "handed off". Name that therapy continues.

B2. Preparing the client for a first visit

  • Purpose / when to use. Lower barriers once the client is interested.
  • Steps.
    1. Look up the nearest centre's address, hours and phone together. Note that listings differ, so phone to confirm [source: psseo.ca; South East Healthline].
    2. Describe what is published: drop-in, free lunch and coffee, laundry, computers, games, groups, WRAP groups, peer staff.
    3. Explain that peers share their own stories and that the relationship is between equals.
    4. Plan logistics: day, time, transport, what to bring (laundry, if useful), and an exit plan.
    5. Optionally role-play the first sentence at the door.
    6. Mention the centre's Code of Conduct (each centre posts one). Its content is [uncertain].
  • Example language (illustrative). "You could say: 'Hi, it's my first time, I just wanted to see what's here.' That's enough."
  • Watch for. Avoidance disguised as "maybe next week". Agree a specific day.

B3. Making the link

  • Purpose / when to use. Turn intent into contact.
  • Steps.
    1. Default: the client walks in or phones themselves. No referral is required [source: South East Healthline].
    2. If the client wants help, they can phone the centre from your office.
    3. If your organisation is a registered Caredove referrer, send a referral with the client's consent. Expect a reply within about two business days [source: Caredove].
    4. To ask about community peer support or outreach, phone the coordinating centre in Belleville [source: psseo.ca contact page].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Would you like to call now while we're together, or would you rather go on your own?"
  • Watch for. Referral without consent, and sending diagnostic or risk details that the peer service has not asked for and does not need.

B4. Coordinating with peer workers

  • Purpose / when to use. When the client wants their therapist and peer worker to communicate.
  • Steps.
    1. Get written consent that names the person or centre, what may be shared, in which direction, and an expiry date.
    2. Share the client's own goals and their crisis-plan preferences. Do not share notes.
    3. Agree what each of you does in a crisis. Peer workers hold ASIST and crisis-intervention certificates [source: PSSEO posting], but they are not the clinical risk-holder.
    4. Never ask peers to report attendance or compliance.
  • Example language (illustrative, to peer worker). "[Client] asked me to let you know they'd like you to know about their plan for bad nights. Here's what they want shared."
  • Watch for. Drift into the peer acting as a case manager or monitor, which would undermine the IPS principles of mutuality and learning rather than helping [source for principles: IPS deck].

B5. Using peer support and WRAP inside therapy

  • Purpose / when to use. Make the two complement each other.
  • Steps.
    1. Open check-ins with "anything from the centre you want to bring in?".
    2. Use the client's WRAP language and add therapy-learned skills to their toolbox if they choose.
    3. Work in therapy on interpersonal patterns that show up at the centre (conflict, over-giving, withdrawal).
    4. Rehearse self-advocacy (a WRAP key concept) for use with services [source: SCIA].
  • Example language (illustrative). "You said you went quiet when the group got loud. Is that the same pattern we noticed at work?"
  • Watch for. Therapy taking over the client's plan. Keep the WRAP the client's own.

B6. Including peer support in safety and crisis planning

  • Purpose / when to use. For clients with suicide or self-harm risk, or recurring crises.
  • Steps.
    1. Complete your standard structured risk assessment and safety plan.
    2. Add the centre as a daytime connection and distraction place, giving its hours. It is not a crisis service, and its hours are limited.
    3. List after-hours crisis lines and emergency services separately.
    4. Where relevant, include lethal-means counselling: safe storage and removal.
    5. Check the plan matches the client's WRAP crisis plan.
  • Example language (illustrative). "The centre is somewhere to go weekdays, 10 to 3. For nights and weekends, let's write down who you'd call."
  • Watch for. Clients or families treating the centre as crisis cover.

B7. Review and stepping down from therapy

  • Purpose / when to use. Every 4 to 8 weeks, and before discharge.
  • Steps.
    1. Ask what peer support is giving the client, how often they go, and what gets in the way.
    2. Update plans.
    3. Before ending therapy, confirm the peer connection will continue and how the client would return to therapy if needed.
  • Example language (illustrative). "When we finish, what from the centre do you want to keep in your week?"
  • Watch for. Ending therapy while the peer connection is still fragile.

5. Handling problems

PSSEO publishes no problem-handling guidance beyond its Code of Conduct and its commitment to supervision, confidentiality and healthy boundaries [source: PSSEO posting 2026]. The IPS deck names disconnection, power and discomfort as expected [source: IPS deck]. Everything else below is [synthesis].

  • Client won't go ("stuck"). Explore the specific fear: being labelled, meeting someone they know (small towns), groups, or substance use around them. Offer a lower-demand first step: a phone call, going with a friend, going only for laundry or lunch. Don't push repeatedly. Leave the information with them and revisit in a few weeks.
  • Client went once and didn't return. Ask what happened without defending the service. In IPS terms it may be a disconnection that can be repaired. Suggest a different day or group, or a different centre if one is reachable.
  • Resistance to the "mental health" or "addiction" identity. Point to practical and social uses (meals, laundry, computers, crafts). The centres define eligibility by self-identification, so the client doesn't need a diagnosis [source: South East Healthline].
  • Overwhelm at the drop-in (noise, conflict, intoxicated attendees, needle exchange in Belleville). Plan shorter visits and quieter times and identify one staff contact. Build grounding skills into the client's WRAP toolbox. Consider a different centre.
  • Non-adherence to the plan you made. Peer support is voluntary and has no adherence target. Reframe the review around what the client values. Never ask peers to enforce attendance.
  • Rupture between client and peer worker. Encourage the client to raise it directly, consistent with IPS reconnection [source: IPS deck]. If there is a boundary or safety concern (exploitation, romantic or financial entanglement, threats), help the client use the centre's Code of Conduct and take complaints to the Peer Support Centre Coordinator or the coordinating centre [source: psseo.ca contact page; posting]. If serious, follow your own duty-to-report obligations.
  • Rupture between clinician and peer worker (differing views on diagnosis, medication or risk). Hold multiple truths [source: IPS deck]. Ask the client what they want, and keep the client at the centre of any conversation. Do not triangulate.
  • Peer advice contradicts clinical advice (for example on stopping medication). Explore the client's own view. Give your clinical information clearly, then respect the client's decision unless risk requires action. Don't ask the client to choose sides.
  • Dependency or over-involvement, such as the client attending all day every day or taking on a caretaking role. Explore it in therapy as a pattern (see A2.3 Mutuality). Help the client balance the centre with other community roles.
  • Risk escalates while the client is engaged with peers. Peers hold ASIST and crisis-intervention certificates [source: PSSEO posting], but the clinical risk-holder is you or the client's care team. Follow standard risk assessment, safety planning and emergency procedures. With consent, agree in advance who does what.
  • Confidentiality worries in small communities. Discuss with the client what they want known at the centre. Peers have their own confidentiality duties [source: PSSEO posting]. Share nothing without consent.
  • Substance use and harm reduction. PSSEO supports recovery and harm-reduction pathways [source: PSSEO posting]. Don't make referral conditional on abstinence. Respect the client's chosen pathway, and talk with them about overdose safety.
  • Under-18s (16–17). Eligibility starts at 16 [source: South East Healthline]. Consider parental involvement, consent law and safeguarding duties, and check with the centre about youth attendance.
  • Service information is out of date or inconsistent. Addresses, hours and the list of sites (for example Picton) differ between listings [source: psseo.ca vs South East Healthline]. Always phone the centre to check before sending a client.

Sources

Sources

Further reading (not drawn on): the 211 Ontario PSSEO listing (verification page); PeerWorks/OPDI history; the CMHA 2005 CSI PDF.

Further reading (not drawn on), relevant: Mead, S. (2014 and later editions) Intentional Peer Support: An Alternative Approach (IPS core manual); Copeland, M. E. (1997 and later editions) Wellness Recovery Action Plan. The details of both models above come from the secondary presentations listed, not these manuals [uncertain].