Topic 1: Ethical Advocacy in Recovery Support
What is Ethical Advocacy?
Advocacy is a fundamental component of peer recovery support. Ethical advocacy requires peer specialists to empower individuals, promote recovery-friendly policies, and support systems change while maintaining professional boundaries and ethical integrity.
Advocacy in peer recovery support means ensuring that individuals have the tools, resources, and confidence to speak up for their needs and rights. Ethical advocacy involves supporting peers without making decisions for them or imposing personal beliefs. Our goal is to amplify peer voices, not replace them.
Key Ethical Considerations in Advocacy:
- Advocacy should be peer-driven, meaning that decisions should come from the individual, not the peer specialist.
- Advocacy must respect autonomy and self-determination—in other words, peers should control their own recovery journey.
- Ethical advocacy requires professional boundaries to ensure peer specialists do not take on responsibilities beyond their role.
Ethical Example: A peer specialist helps a peer prepare for a court hearing by providing emotional support and information about legal rights. However, the specialist does not speak on the peer’s behalf or attempt to influence legal decisions.