Thrive Peer Recovery Services provides mental health and substance use peer recovery services to self-identifying individuals in Ohio. Thrive Behavioral Health Center is the operating entity of Thrive Peer Support. Through our various programs and initiatives, we support people on their journey and enable them to achieve independence and long term recovery. We strive to be the gold standard of evidence-based peer support recovery and comprehensive continuing care.
Mission
To provide community, support long-term recovery, renew life and restore hope.
Vision
To connect individuals struggling with mental health and substance use disorders to peer recovery support services that will empower them throughout their journey by embracing all pathways to recovery that foster trusting relationships, community engagement and personal growth.
Values
- Passion for what we do and those we serve.
- Agility when implementing change quickly and effectively.
- Accessibility to all populations with an emphasis on the underserved.
- Collaboration with our team members and partners as we work towards a common goal.
- Excellence through the delivery of high-touch client care and always striving to do more.
The Thrive Story
In 2014, Brian Bailys, co-founder and CEO of Thrive Peer Recovery Services, experienced a relapse. A person with alcohol use disorder, debilitating depression, and anxiety, Brian had been sober for almost seven years.
But, as he tells it, “a whole lot of life” triggered a relapse. Searching for help, Brian bounced around different treatment centers and ended up in a partial-hospitalization recovery program that he credits with saving his life.
“It wasn’t just the program itself, it was the people who I met there that were in recovery as well,” says Brian. “They understood what I was going through, gave me hope, and told me I was worth something.”
Within 90 days of completing the program, Brian was sober and learned that all but one of those in his group had relapsed. Struck by this news and not ready to return to work, Brian started thinking that there had to be a better way for people to achieve long-term recovery.
While researching, he learned that the real gap in treatment is continuing care; assistance that supports recovery once treatment is completed. So he had the idea to create a comprehensive continuing care program that combined a mobile app with 24/7 peer support.
The concept of peer support — a voluntary, community-based recovery service for individuals struggling with mental illness and/or substance use — dates back to the 1970s. Today, peer support specialists are recognized as essential to long-term recovery and sobriety.
Peer support professionals extend the reach of treatment beyond the clinical setting into the everyday environment, giving clients the individual attention that reduces the likelihood of relapse and enables successful, sustained recovery.
Eager to pay it forward, Brian found a nonprofit partner, enlisted help from the Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County (ADAMHS), and started Ascent which combined a mobile recovery app with virtual peer support.
Shortly thereafter, Brian met Bridgette Lewis, an emergency room nurse at the Cleveland Clinic. Bridgette grew up with a father with alcohol use disorder and after seeing her fair share of overdoses in the ER, she began to do her own research into peer support.
“It was so compelling to me because certainly, people connect with others who have been through similar journeys,” says Bridgette. “As a nurse, I thought if I could approach my patients from a standpoint of lived experience, whether it be blood pressure or diabetes, I think that they would look at me differently and heed my advice.”
Soon after Bridgette formed Thrive Behavioral Health Center, and Thrive received certification from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to provide peer support to people with mental health diagnoses and substance use disorders.
Thrive Behavioral Health Center’s Peer Support program is personalized, self-directed, and trauma-informed. Our certified Peer Recovery Supporters are trained professionals certified by the state of Ohio with first-hand recovery experience. It is this personal experience that offers a level of acceptance, understanding, and validation not found in clinical treatment. Thrive’s certified Peer Recovery Supporters share their first-hand knowledge, practical guidance, and real-life lessons learned on their own recovery journey.
In 2017 Thrive implemented an important component of continuing care, ThriveED. Thrive places Peer Recovery Supporters in emergency rooms with individuals that survive overdoses. There, they can immediately provide support and connect them with treatment options and recovery services.
Brian and Bridgette solidified their partnership in 2018 and what started as a company of 6 people has grown to one that employs over 150. Currently, Thrive provides services to 66 counties in Ohio.
Thrive recently entered into an agreement with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield to provide peer support services to their members.
“Almost every single person in this company has been impacted by substance use disorder or mental health diagnoses, which is why Thrive is so special and so effective; there is so much passion for the mission here,” says Brian.
At Thrive, we leverage the lived experience of our staff to empower our clients to believe that long-term recovery is possible. The Thrive team gives clients hope — no matter the pathway they take to recovery.