About Us
The National Peer Recovery Alliance (NPRA) represents peer support specialists from across the country.
Our current membership includes peers from Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, and we are continuing to grow.
Our Vision
We envision a more unified, empowered peer workforce to provide individuals in recovery with the voice and choice they need for long-term success.
Who are peer support specialists?
Peer support specialists use their lived, firsthand recovery experience to help others who are in and seeking recovery.
According to SAMHSA, peer support workers are people who have been successful in the recovery process who help others experiencing similar situations. Through shared understanding, respect and mutual empowerment, peer support workers help people become and stay engaged in the recovery process and reduce the likelihood of relapse.
Peer support services can effectively extend the reach of treatment beyond the clinical setting into the everyday environment of those seeking a successful, sustained recovery process.
Our Mission
We are committed to building and sustaining a more unified, empowered peer workforce to support individuals with substance use disorders. Through advocacy and education, we will elevate and strengthen the role of peer support specialists in communities across the country.
NPRA is a division of the ARCHway Institute.
To learn more about the ARCHway Institute, visit thearchwayinstitute.org and follow on Facebook.
How do I find a peer support specialist?
For more information and resources on finding a peer support specialist.
How do I become a peer support specialist?
Each state has different certification criteria. Visit our state pages for more information.
Emily Jung
NPRA Interim Executive Director
Emily Jung is NPRA's interim executive director and the CEO/COO of ARCHway Institute, a 501(c)3 that helps those impacted by substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders. She recently published a book called "Igniting Hope: The Story of a Community Lighting the Way to Recovery" about ARCHway’s work to bring hope to all those impacted by substance use disorders.
In addition, Emily is the founder of two peer coalitions: The National Peer Recovery Alliance (NPRA) and its Missouri affiliate, NPRA-MO. Both coalitions focus on advocacy efforts around long-term recovery and peer workforce development and sustainability.
Emily has a Bachelor’s in English Education from Southeast Missouri State University and a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Missouri Baptist University. She taught for six years in the Parkway School District in Missouri. As a previous educator and through her own experience, she sees the need for open and honest communication about addiction and mental health. She believes these conversations need to happen in schools, homes, and the public to bring awareness and understanding, to prevent overdoses and future use and to bring knowledge of the resources and treatment opportunities that are available.