Strength in Recovery: A Practice-Informed Commentary on Peer Recovery Specialists Facilitating Gambling Recovery Groups
摘要
Gambling-related harm is increasingly recognized as a public health concern with significant psychological, relational, and social consequences, yet limited scholarship has examined the integration of Peer Recovery Specialists (PRS) within gambling recovery systems. While peer roles are well established in substance use and mental health contexts, gambling-specific peer integration remains emergent and under-theorized. This manuscript offers a practice-informed commentary on the role of Peer Recovery Specialists facilitating gambling recovery groups within a statewide system of care. Drawing on structured reflective conversations with the full cohort of certified Peer Recovery Specialists (N = 5) embedded within a statewide gambling recovery initiative, the commentary synthesizes practitioner perspectives and implementation lessons. The work is intentionally positioned as descriptive and reflexive rather than evaluative and transparently acknowledges the authors’ embedded roles within the system of care. Peer Recovery Specialists described their work as fundamentally relational, strengths-based, and trauma-informed. Key areas of emphasis included the use of lived experience to foster connection and hope, structured yet flexible facilitation practices, intentional language to reduce stigma and promote psychological safety, and the importance of organizational supports such as supervision, training, and peer networks. By positioning these insights as practice-informed rather than outcome-focused, this commentary offers guidance for organizations seeking to integrate Peer Recovery Specialists into gambling recovery systems and contributes to emerging discourse on gambling-specific peer roles and workforce development.