Bridgett Williamson was a star basketball player at New Haven’s Wilbur Cross High School, but traumatic experiences sent her life off the rails, and she became a drug dealer and user. She stopped using heroin nearly 30 years ago, shortly after her mother died. Now she’s a peer support person for the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health, within the Yale School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. Colleagues there say Bridgett provides powerful support for others who are recovering from mental illnesses and substance abuse problems. Peers, who have “been there and done that,” play an important role in recovery-based care.
by Steve Hamm (accompanying article at http://c-hit.org/2019/06/26/fentanyl-crisis-prompts-change-in-treatment-strategies/?fbclid=IwAR2-UmTw52ER_d9irg-1hQ743fwH1fhpOJqdbosoUp3E4EUNjTfHKGkr8ik)