LifeWays peer support and recovery staff inspire clients to 'walk the walk'

A community mental health organization and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC), LifeWays employs peer support specialists and recovery coaches for clients to work with throughout their recovery journeys. Serving people in Jackson and Hillsdale counties, LifeWays provides treatment for those in crisis or with serious and complex behavioral health needs. Professionally trained staff who have "walked the walk" of mental illness or addiction, peer support specialists and recovery coaches connect community members with resources both through LifeWays' programs and services as well as throughout the major community. 
 
“The last place I thought I would ever apply to work would be the same agency I got services from,” says LifeWays veteran peer support specialist Doug Brinker. “I’ve had people I’ve worked with encourage others around them who are struggling to come in and meet with me because they know I was once in their shoes.”
 
Doug BrinkerBrinker first began working with LifeWays seven years ago, but his first time seeking out LifeWays for mental health services was twenty-five years ago. As a veteran struggling with anxiety and depression, Brinker attempted twice to take his life. He sought out resources and therapy through LifeWays to begin his mental health recovery journey. 
 
As LifeWays’s veteran peer support specialist, Brinker works alongside LifeWays’ Veteran Navigator to build relationships with his vet clients while providing them with mental health resources they may not realize could benefit them. 
 
Brinker feels that he is able to connect with his clients so strongly because of his personal lived experience and his expertise regarding Veterans Affairs (VA).

LifeWays' other peer support specialists do the same for clients with different mental health needs. LifeWays recovery coaches like Sherry Mills bring another kind of lived experience to the recovery process. Miller's personal experience allows her to connect with her clients in a deep and meaningful way. 
 
“I wanted to be able to share the tools and skills that I’ve learned that have bettered my life with other people going through similar struggles,” Mills says. “I want to support them in finding their purpose, which also gives me a sense of purpose.”
 
Sherry MillsWhile LifeWays provides therapy and referrals to treatment, Brinker's and Mills'  connections within the local community ensure that clients seeking their aid develop stronger coping mechanisms within their community. While the clients they see are different, Brinker and Mills agree that the most important task in their day-to-day work is building rapport and trust with clients and allowing them to traverse their recovery journey at their own pace.
 
“My day to day is different every day, but I’m doing my best to connect vets to the right resources,” says Brinker.
 
“I try to work really hard with people to make sure they know that healing is their choice,” says Mills. “It creates a sense of acceptance, understanding and validation which they may not find with other professional relationships that they have.”
 
Brinker and Mills both feel that their lived experience directly contributes to their ability to connect with their clients, as well as the way they go about introducing them to local services. Brinker mentions that his second attempt to take his life came less than two years after the first. After participating in therapy and finding a medication that worked, he "felt better.” Now, Brinker wants to give back to the organization that helped him by helping his clients set and achieve their individual goals.
 
“It’s about going at a slow enough pace with the person I work with to make sure they know they can trust me,” says Brinker. “Some days I spend more time doing research to find resources to find coping support for veterans, and some days I’m spending time with vets face to face to figure out what their needs are.”
 
LifeWays brings whole person-centered care to residents of Jackson and Hillsdale counties.

Mills meets with clients individually and in groups, sharing her own recovery story in the hopes that people are able to connect with her personally and be more willing to seek help when they need it. She says beginning her healing journey was difficult — and that if she would have had a peer recovery coach when seeking help, her recovery journey would have looked much different.
 
“All of my life I’ve tried to fix things for my family members, my friends, my children, and it’s the hardest thing to unlearn,” says Mills. “It’s important for me to remember I can tell people things that worked for me but they may not work for them, because each person’s recovery journey is unique.”

Both Brinker and Mills also state that working in their roles like helps them become more mentally healthy. They still have difficult days and understand that each individual's journey has different needs and takes different amounts of time. But as a peer support specialist and a recovery coach, Brinker and Mills walk with their clients every step of the way, connecting them with additional resources and providing insight from their personal mental health journeys.
 
“I don’t feel like I’ve made a huge difference every day, but as long as I've made a difference in one person’s life, that’s what’s most important to me,” says Mills. “Some days are still a struggle for me, but … I feel so much stronger when I’m out there in the community.”
 
“More agencies need to give people who have walked the walk the opportunity to give back like LifeWays has,” Brinker says. “There needs to be more opportunity given to people across the country who are in a better place than they were a year or two ago, and give them a chance to give hope back to the people that are still hurting.”

Rylee Barnsdale is a Michigan native and longtime Washtenaw County resident. She wants to use her journalistic experience from her time at Eastern Michigan University writing for the Eastern Echo to tell the stories of Washtenaw County residents that need to be heard.

LifeWays photos by Doug Coombe.
Doug Brinker and Sherry Mills photos courtesy LifeWays.

The MI Mental Health series highlights the opportunities that Michigan's children, teens, and adults of all ages have to find the mental health help they need, when and where they need it. It is made possible with funding from the Community Mental Health Association of Michigan, Center for Health and Research Transformation, LifeWays, Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan, Northern Lakes CMH Authority, OnPoint, Sanilac County CMH, St. Clair County CMH, Summit Pointe, and Washtenaw County CMH.