Staff Spotlight: Owen Kadow, CPS-AD

What inspired you to become a Certified Peer Specialist?

When I finished treatment, I never thought I would go back to work in treatment. I had finished sober living and was working a retail job trying to figure out my next step. Even though I had left sober living, I was still continuing to talk with my sober living counselor. He asked me if I had ever considered working in treatment. At that point, I had not thought about it. He also mentioned being a Certified Peer Specialist as a good way to get involved. I was familiar with Peer Specialists from my time at Skyland Trail and had enjoyed working with Robb when I was here. At that point, I decided that this could be something that I want to do. Eventually, I decided to do the Certified Peer Specialist training to see if it was for me. I ended up really enjoying the training and believed in the value that CPSs bring to mental health treatment. Within a few months of the training, I began working as a CPS. 

What does being a Certified Peer Specialist mean to you personally?

For me, working as a CPS is about being a living example of what recovery looks like. I try to model recovery not just by how I run groups or how I do my individual sessions, but also how I show up everyday. Before I got into recovery, I had not met many people in recovery. Working here, I get to be one of the first people that they meet that is in recovery. I know that it meant a lot to me to know that there are people living happy lives in recovery, so I hope that our clients now will get the same experience that I did. 

How do you help clients build hope during difficult moments?

As a Peer Specialist, my best tool to help clients is my own experience. The first time I meet with someone or the first time someone is in one of my groups, they will hear what my experience with mental health struggles was like. I focus on trying to make sure they know they are not the only person that has been in this situation before, and if I can do it they can do it too. With that understanding, hopefully that will take away some things I said that work for me and see if those things will work for them

What does recovery mean to you?

My definition of recovery has been influenced by my training as a CPS and how we view recovery as CPSs in Georgia. My definition would be that Recovery is a self directed process of striving to improve wellness in all areas of our lives including but not limited to emotional, physical, spiritual and professional wellness. 

What message would you share with someone just beginning their recovery journey?

Before I got into recovery, I thought that recovery would be miserable. I could not imagine having fun or participating in life having acknowledged the challenges that I faced. What I have found is that not only is recovery possible, but is also the best thing that has happened to me. I am able to do almost anything I could before and much more. I try to tell every client that Recovery is great, and it just takes some consistency to get where you want to be. 

What makes peer support unique within our treatment programs?

One of the things that I love about Skyland Trail is that clients get a holistic treatment experience.  I have found that as a CPS here I get to focus on the most important elements of peer support, which is working with clients in groups or individual sessions, and sharing lived experience.  In other programs, CPSs might wear a lot of hats or be spread thin filling in lots of other responsibilities. It is amazing to be a part of a holistic treatment team that can support clients in so many different ways. 

What’s something that brings you joy outside of work?

I love spending time hanging out with friends, seeing movies, playing pickleball and taking care of my own recovery!