Courage to Caregivers is an Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (OhioBH - formerly known as OhioMHAS) Certified Peer-Run organization providing Peer Recovery Services (Family Peer Support). We are a nonprofit organization, and are committed to the ongoing support of caregivers to those living with behavioral health needs. We are peer support professionals ourselves with lived experience caring for a family member living with behavioral health needs.
We have received a grant from OBH to provide twenty-one virtual one hour trainings designed especially for Ohio Certified Peer Recovery Specialists - CPRS, FYPS, and CFPS - and their Supervisors. Each training will provide 1 to 1 .5 hours of continuing education for peer supporters. Each training is one hour and you must stay for the entire training to receive 1 CE. There will be optional 30 minute professionally facilitated breakout rooms following each training, if you stay for the breakout rooms, and remain engaged, you will receive 1.5 CE.
You may register via links for each individual session below - note, space is limited! Once you register, you will receive the Zoom link and access to a calendar invite for each session. Please be courteous and don’t register if you can’t attend and remember to cancel if your schedule changes! All trainings are led by the Courage to Caregivers team unless otherwise noted below.
Courage to Caregivers is also certified to provide Prevention Services, and provides Question Persuade Refer/QPR Suicide Prevention Training MONTHLY on the last Thursday of each month from 7-9 pm.
Register Here for 2025 dates OR Register Here for 2026 dates
QPR stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer — the 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Behavioral health knowledge (may include recovery and resiliency), Trauma Informed Care
(1) Thursday, October 30, 2025 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - The Weight We Carry: Exploring Guilt and Shame with Compassion - Register Here
The Weight We Carry: Exploring Guilt and Shame with Compassion invites peer supporters to deepen their understanding of how guilt and shame impact healing, relationships, and recovery. Grounded in trauma-informed care, this training emphasizes recognizing the difference between guilt and shame, understanding their roots, and approaching both with compassion rather than judgment. Participants will learn strategies to create safe, non-stigmatizing spaces where peers can share difficult emotions without fear of blame or rejection. By integrating trauma-informed principles with empathy and compassion, peer supporters can help reduce the weight of guilt and shame while fostering resilience and self-worth.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Trauma-Informed Care
(2) Thursday, November 13, 2025 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - The Gift of Presence: Building Connection Through Active Listening - Register Here
The Gift of Presence: Building Connection Through Active Listening highlights the critical role of listening as both a skill and a mindset in peer support. Drawing on behavioral health knowledge, this training explores how active listening fosters trust, reduces stigma, and supports recovery. Participants will examine how healthy boundaries strengthen listening skills by allowing supporters to remain present without becoming overwhelmed. Integrating coaching principles, the training also equips peer supporters with practical tools to guide conversations, encourage self-discovery, and empower peers to move toward their goals. By cultivating presence and deep listening, peer supporters can build authentic connections that promote healing and growth.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Behavioral health knowledge, Boundaries, Principles of coaching as applied to the delivery of peer services
(3) Thursday, December 4, 2025 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - The Power of Yet: Cultivating a Growth Mindset - Register Here
The Power of Yet: Cultivating a Growth Mindset in Peer Support explores how peer supporters can integrate coaching principles to inspire hope, resilience, and personal growth in those they serve. This training emphasizes the value of shifting from a fixed mindset (“I can’t do this”) to a growth mindset (“I can’t do this yet”) as a way to reframe challenges and setbacks into opportunities for learning. Peer supporters will learn coaching strategies to help peers set realistic, strengths-based goals, adjust expectations, and celebrate progress along the way. By cultivating a growth mindset in themselves and those they support, peer workers can foster empowerment, self-efficacy, and long-term recovery.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Principles of coaching as applied to the delivery of peer services
(4) Thursday, January 8, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - "We've Got One Hour" - How to Use Your Supervision Time for Professional Growth - Register Here
“We’ve Got One Hour”: How to Use Your Supervision Time for Professional Growth will help peer supporters maximize the value of supervision by approaching it with intention and purpose. This training integrates coaching principles into the supervision process, showing participants how to set clear goals, bring relevant challenges forward, and actively engage in reflective practice. Peer supporters will learn strategies to transform supervision from a routine check-in into a space for growth, skill-building, and empowerment. By reframing supervision as a coaching partnership, participants can strengthen their professional development and enhance the quality of the support they provide.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Principles of coaching as applied to the delivery of peer services
(5) Saturday, January 24, 2026 from 9 am to 10:30 am - Resilience as Prevention, Recovery as Healing: A Peer Support Perspective - Register Here
Resilience as Prevention, Recovery as Healing: A Peer Support Perspective explores how peer supporters can use health and wellness principles to build resilience as a proactive approach to preventing behavioral health challenges. Participants will learn how resilience functions as a protective factor, helping peers maintain balance and well-being even in the face of adversity. The training also highlights the role of recovery as a healing process, grounded in behavioral health knowledge and peer support values. By integrating resilience-building practices with recovery-focused approaches, peer supporters can empower individuals to thrive, not just survive, across their wellness journey.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Basic principles related to health and wellness, Behavioral health knowledge
(6) Saturday, January 24, 2026 from 10:45 am to 12:15 pm - The Heart of our Work: Emotional Intelligence and Connection - Register Here
The Heart of Peer Support: Emotional Intelligence and Connection focuses on how developing emotional intelligence (EQ) strengthens health, wellness, and the quality of peer support relationships. Participants will explore the basic principles of emotional wellness, including self-awareness, empathy, and emotional regulation, as essential tools for building authentic connections. This training highlights how cultivating EQ not only supports personal well-being but also enhances the ability to walk alongside peers with compassion and resilience. By deepening their emotional intelligence, peer supporters can foster trust, mutual growth, and stronger recovery-oriented outcomes.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Basic principles related to health and wellness
(7) Saturday, January 24, 2026 from 12:30 pm to 2 pm - Holding Space, Holding Limits: Trauma-Informed Boundaries - Register Here
Holding Space, Holding Limits: Trauma-Informed Boundaries in Peer Support helps peer supporters understand how to balance compassion with healthy boundaries when working alongside peers impacted by trauma. This training explores the principles of trauma-informed care and emphasizes the importance of creating safe, supportive environments that honor both the peer’s healing journey and the supporter’s well-being. Participants will learn how to recognize signs of boundary challenges, practice strategies for maintaining clear and respectful limits, and prevent burnout while still providing authentic connection. By integrating trauma-informed practices with strong boundaries, peer supporters can foster resilience, empowerment, and sustainable relationships.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Boundaries, Trauma-Informed Care
(8) Saturday, January 24, 2026 from 2:15 pm to 3:45 pm - Sustaining the Supporter: Ethical Practice Through Self-Care - Register Here
Sustaining the Supporter: Ethical Practice Through Self-Care explores the vital connection between ethics and self-care in peer support. Ethical practice requires peer supporters to set healthy boundaries, maintain professionalism, and ensure they are able to provide safe, consistent support. This training emphasizes that self-care is not optional but a core ethical responsibility—helping peer supporters prevent burnout, reduce compassion fatigue, and uphold the integrity of the peer role. Participants will learn strategies for balancing personal wellness with ethical obligations, ensuring they can sustain themselves while sustaining others.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Ethics
(9) Thursday, February 5, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - Cultural Competence - Register Here
Description coming soon!
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Diversity and inclusion/cultural sensitivity, Trauma-Informed Care
(10) Thursday, February 26, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - Holding Hope in Hard Systems: Staying Grounded and Empowering Through Change - Register Here
Holding Hope in Hard Systems: Staying Grounded and Empowering Through Change equips peer supporters with strategies to navigate complex and often challenging service systems while staying true to the values of peer support. This training emphasizes system navigation and care coordination as tools to help peers access resources, overcome barriers, and feel empowered even when systems fall short. Participants will explore how to remain grounded, manage their own expectations, and maintain hope while walking alongside peers in times of change or systemic failure. By integrating advocacy with practical navigation skills, peer supporters can foster resilience and empowerment in both themselves and those they support.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: System Navigation and care coordination
(11) Thursday, March 19, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - Skillful Survival: Building Tolerance for Distress with DBT Tools - Register Here
Skillful Survival: Building Tolerance for Distress with DBT Tools equips peer supporters with practical strategies to help themselves and others navigate overwhelming emotions and high-stress situations. Grounded in behavioral health knowledge and trauma-informed care, this training introduces the four DBT distress tolerance skills—distraction, self-soothing, improving the moment, and acceptance—as essential tools for surviving crises without making things worse. Participants will explore how distress tolerance builds resilience, reduces impulsive behaviors, and supports emotional regulation. By integrating DBT tools into peer support practice, supporters can create safer, more compassionate spaces for healing and recovery.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Behavioral health knowledge, Trauma-Informed Care
(12) Thursday, April 2, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - From Crisis to Connection: Peer Support De-escalation Tools - Register Here
From Crisis to Connection: Peer Support De-escalation Tools prepares peer supporters to respond effectively when emotions escalate or situations become overwhelming. Grounded in behavioral health knowledge, the training introduces practical de-escalation strategies that promote safety, reduce stress, and prevent harm. Participants will also learn how trauma-informed care principles guide de-escalation, ensuring responses are compassionate, non-judgmental, and empowering. By combining knowledge of behavioral health with trauma-informed approaches, peer supporters can transform moments of crisis into opportunities for connection, trust, and recovery.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Behavioral health knowledge, Trauma-informed care
(13) Thursday, April 23, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - Flexible Paths, Realistic Goals: Supporting Peers in Redefining Success - Register Here
Flexible Paths, Realistic Goals: Supporting Peers in Redefining Success focuses on how peer supporters can use coaching principles to help peers set goals that are meaningful, achievable, and adaptable. This training emphasizes meeting peers where they are, encouraging flexibility, and reframing success in ways that reflect each individual’s values and circumstances. Participants will learn how to guide peers in breaking down goals into manageable steps, adjusting expectations as needed, and celebrating progress along the way. By applying coaching strategies, peer supporters can foster empowerment, resilience, and a sense of accomplishment that supports long-term growth and recovery.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Principles of coaching as applied to the delivery of peer services
(14) Thursday, May 14, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - Staying True to the Role: Avoiding Peer Drift - Register Here
Staying True to the Role: Avoiding Peer Drift equips peer supporters with the knowledge and tools to maintain the integrity of the peer support role while working within complex systems. This training integrates behavioral health knowledge, boundaries, and ethics to help supporters recognize the difference between peer support and clinical or case management functions. Participants will explore the risks of “peer drift,” when the peer role begins to blur with other professional roles, and learn strategies to stay grounded in mutuality and lived experience. With a focus on system navigation and care coordination, the training highlights how peer supporters can collaborate effectively while honoring their unique role in fostering empowerment and recovery.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Behavioral health knowledge, Boundaries, Ethics, System Navigation and care coordination
(15) Thursday, June 4 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - Human Trafficking - Register Here
Description coming soon!
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Human trafficking
(16) Thursday, June 25, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - Supporting the Whole Person: Mental Health, Symptoms, and Co-Occurring Disorders - Register Here
Supporting the Whole Person: Mental Health, Symptoms, and Co-Occurring Disorders provides peer supporters with foundational behavioral health knowledge to better understand the complexities of mental health conditions and substance use disorders. This training emphasizes the importance of seeing beyond a diagnosis by focusing on the individual’s strengths, challenges, and lived experience. Participants will learn how to recognize symptoms, appreciate the unique impact of co-occurring disorders, and establish healthy boundaries while offering compassionate support. By integrating knowledge with clear boundary practices, peer supporters can walk alongside peers in ways that promote safety, empowerment, and holistic recovery.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Behavioral health knowledge, Boundaries, Ethics
(17) Thursday, July 16, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - The Peer Support Lifecycle: Moving Toward Empowerment and Growth - Register Here
The Peer Support Lifecycle: Moving Toward Empowerment and Growth introduces peer supporters to the natural progression of support, from initial engagement to fostering long-term empowerment. This training emphasizes the principles of coaching as applied to peer services, equipping supporters with tools to guide peers in setting goals, building resilience, and celebrating progress along the way. Participants will also explore system navigation and care coordination strategies that help peers access resources and supports at each stage of the lifecycle. By combining coaching skills with navigation expertise, peer supporters can walk alongside peers as they move toward empowerment, recovery, and personal growth.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Principles of coaching as applied to the delivery of peer services, System Navigation and care coordination
(18) Thursday, August 6, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - Professionalism: The Glow-Up You Didn’t Know You Needed - Register Here
Professionalism: The Glow-Up You Didn’t Know You Needed introduces peer supporters to the essential role of professionalism in building credibility, trust, and long-term career growth. Through the lens of coaching principles, this training highlights how professionalism is not just about appearance or rules, but about communication, accountability, boundaries, and modeling recovery-oriented values. Participants will explore practical strategies to strengthen their professional presence, navigate workplace expectations, and use coaching skills to support their own growth as well as those they serve. By embracing professionalism as part of their peer support journey, participants can elevate their practice, enhance collaboration, and create stronger outcomes for peers and communities.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Principles of coaching as applied to the delivery of peer services
(19) Thursday, August 27, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - Diversity & Inclusion - Register Here
Description coming soon!
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Diversity and inclusion/cultural sensitivity, Trauma-Informed Care
(20) Thursday, September 10, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - From Role to Career: Building Professional Pathways in Peer Support - Register Here
From Role to Career: Building Professional Pathways in Peer Support helps participants move beyond seeing peer support as a role and begin envisioning it as a long-term professional pathway. Rooted in coaching principles, this training explores how self-reflection, intentional goal setting, and continuous skill development can create sustainable careers in peer support. Participants will learn how to leverage supervision, training, and networking as tools for growth while maintaining the unique values of lived experience. By integrating coaching strategies, peer supporters can chart individualized career pathways that support both their own professional advancement and the empowerment of those they serve.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Principles of coaching as applied to the delivery of peer services
(21) Thursday, September 24, 2026 from 11 am to 12:30 pm - The Art of Showing Up (and Not Burning Out) - Register Here
The Art of Showing Up (and Not Burning Out) explores how peer supporters can consistently be present and effective while prioritizing their own health and wellness. This training highlights the basic principles of self-care, stress management, and balance as essential foundations for sustaining long-term peer support practice. Participants will learn strategies to recognize early signs of burnout, create realistic self-care routines, and maintain boundaries that protect both their personal well-being and their professional effectiveness. By embracing wellness as a core part of peer support, participants can “show up” authentically for others without sacrificing themselves in the process.
Peer Support CE Topic Areas: Basic principles related to health and wellness
Made possible by a grant from the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health.
