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The following principles will guide Certified Peer Specialists in their various roles, relationships and levels of responsibility in which they function professionally.

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1. The primary responsibility of Certified Peer Specialists is to help individuals achieve their own needs, wants, and goals. Certified Peer Specialists will be guided by the principle of self-determination for all.  

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2. Certified Peer Specialists will maintain high standards of personal conduct. Certified Peer Specialists will also conduct themselves in a manner that fosters their own recovery.   

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3. Certified Peer Specialists will openly share with consumers and colleagues their recovery stories from mental illness and will likewise be able to identify and describe the supports that promote their recovery.

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4. Certified Peer Specialists will, at all times, respect the rights and dignity of those they serve.

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5. Certified Peer Specialists will never intimidate, threaten, harass, use undue influence, physical force or verbal abuse, or make unwarranted promises of benefits to the individuals they serve.

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6. Certified Peer Specialists will not practice, condone, facilitate or collaborate in any form of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, race, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, national origin, marital status, political belief, mental or physical disability, or any other preference or personal characteristic, condition or state.

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7. Certified Peer Specialists will advocate for those they serve that they may make their own decisions in all matters when dealing with other professionals.

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8. Certified Peer Specialists will respect the privacy and confidentiality of those they serve. 

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9. Certified Peer Specialists will advocate for the full integration of individuals into the communities of their choice and will promote the inherent value of these individuals to those communities. Certified Peer Specialists will be directed by the knowledge that all individuals have the right to live in the least restrictive and least intrusive environment. 

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10. Certified Peer Specialists will not enter into dual relationships or commitments that conflict with the interests of those they serve.

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11. Certified Peer Specialists will never engage in sexual/intimate activities with the consumers they serve.

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12. Certified Peer Specialists will not abuse substances under any circumstance.

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13. Certified Peers Specialists will keep current with emerging knowledge relevant to recovery, and openly share this knowledge with their colleagues.

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14. Certified Peer Specialists will not accept gifts of significant value from those they serve.