Why Palo Recovery Sober Companions are first-class

Long-term recovery

• 15+ years of continuous recovery
• Active in recovery through 12-step meetings and service
• Decade+ history of helping others
• Extremely well-traveled — able to handle any travel challenges
• More mature, in their 50s and 60s, retired or semi-retired empty-nesters
• My PEERS have seen it all. Very difficult to manipulate.

Trained in the gold standard CCAR curriculum

• Knowing the difference between a peer, a sponsor, and a therapist — non-clinical. They stay in their own lane.
• Open-minded to many pathways of recovery
• Able to connect with clients from an equal power position. They’ve been there.
• Understanding of motivational interviewing for effective communication

Supervision & Mentoring

• Jen Palo’s deep experience and commitment to the peer support specialist modality is key
• Guidance through any logistical or crisis challenges
• No one does this work alone. It often takes a village.

Expert Consultant in the Peer Support Specialist field

• Worked with research scientists from Brown University and Chestnut Health Systems
• Prochaska’s Behavioral Change company
• Behavioral Health and Recovery Community Centers

Program Development

• Developed Peer Support Specialist programming in clinics, correctional facilities, and Recovery Community Centers
• Created protocols and supervision standards
• Wrote grants, created performance measures and reporting procedures

Advocate and Leader

• Worked on the front lines of the opioid overdose epidemic — proud to have been the first to bring Narcan into medication-assisted recovery clinics
• Mentored and supervised Peer Support Specialists into internship positions to gain hours for certification
• Executive board member of Rhode Island Community Addiction Recovery Efforts (RICARES RCO)

Boots on the Ground

Worked during the pioneering stage of peer support in Rhode Island in hospitals, ERs, and recovery community centers as a Peer Support Specialist. Created measuring, analysis, and reporting of the groundbreaking program giving overdose survivors immediate peer support in the ERs — a program that has been replicated across the United States.

Clinical Therapist

• Clinical experience spanning detox, residential treatment, and incarceration settings
• Current thriving private practice