Action Alerts /Portland Tribune delivers inspiring story about power of consumer peer counseling

Sometimes no one can you help you better than a person who has walked your journey.  The Portland Tribune ran a story on the growing movement of peer counseling for people living with mental health conditions. Journalist Alison Barnwell wrote the story "Peers 'Who Have Been There' Guide Recovery." She reports that Gregg Roberts, the superintendent of Oregon State Hospital, plans on developing the country's first department of peer counseling. 
"There's nothing more powerful than a person saying to another person, 'I made it. You can too,'" Roberts told Barnwell. 

Barnwell's story shows the power of peer counseling through various interviews with consumers who have benefited from the services. Henry Linebaugh, 65, lives alone in an apartment and tried to kill himself multiple times while incarcerated. He felt his stay at a Salem hospital wasn't effective. But working with Scott Snedecor, a peer counselor in Portland changed his life. Linebugh told The Portland Tribune, “I don't believe the Salem hospital helped me a damn bit. All they did was house me. When I got to Portland, Scott gave me hope. Him and his simple jokes. He knew what I was going through. He'd been there.”

Reporter Alison Barnwell and The Portland Tribune are to be commended for taking on a subject that is rarely addressed in media. Their story provides great examples of how consumers can support each other and help others down the road of recovery.