WI Certified Peer Specialist Gail Nohr

WI Certified Peer Specialist Gail Nohr uses her Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) training to help guide veterans in her group Veterans in Recovery, on a weekly basis at the Gathering Place in Green Bay. Gail will be guiding our Veterans 1st residents to the path of their individual recovery with the skills she has gained through her CPS training and experience running the Veterans in Recovery Group at the Gathering Place. The award she received was titled, "Thinking Outside the Box". Gail has done this in the time she has facilitated the Veterans in Recovery group since April of 2022. She greatly appreciates the support she is given by the staff at the Gathering Place, Executive Director, Amy Payne and her participants in the class. Gail believes that recovery is an individual journey with many paths and is possible for all. Certified Peer Specialists believe that recovery is a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential. CPS groups are responsive and inclusive of needs, and promote an increased sense of hope, empathy and acceptance. They also believe it is important to recognize and affirm each person's strengths. More information on the Gathering Place can be found at: https://www.thegatheringplaceinc.org/

Gail also received a Human Services degree with an emphasis on Substance Abuse Counseling from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and has extensive knowledge of mental health and substance use disorders and their impact on recovery. More information on the NWTC Degree can be found at this link: https://www.nwtc.edu/academics-and-training/substance-use-disorder-counseling.

She also has knowledge of trauma and its impact on the recovery process. She uses the Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) concept to recovery. Everyone has heard of PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but few people have heard of Post Traumatic Growth. After one experiences traumas of any kind it is important to revisit the trauma in a safe environment and process what happened and how it may have affected that person in all aspects of their life since the trauma. It is possible to become stronger after processing the trauma in the following ways: Appreciation of life. Relationships with others. New possibilities in life. Personal strength. Spiritual change. More information on Post Traumatic Growth can be found at the following website: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/11/growth-trauma

All the therapies we will be offering at our Veterans 1st of NEW Tiny Homes Village can be found on the following pages: https://veterans1stnew.com/counseling-and-therapies-veterans-residents-self-sufficiency/ and https://veterans1stnew.com/support-services/ We will be offering these therapies as soon as we have residents in our village which will be in late 2023 or early 2024. WI Certified Peer Specialist Gail Nohr will be the facilitator of Veteran Peer Groups at the Veterans 1st Village in our Community Center.