Erin Goodman: Suicide Survivor Turned Peer Recovery Specialist
When anxiety and depression led to psychosis for Erin Goodman, she sought help – and used her teaching background to help others as a Peer Recovery Specialist.
Life can be a road of uncertainty, filled with twists and turns – and lots of uphill stretches. But the challenges we overcome on that road sometimes give us the life experience that helps us pave the way for others.
Such is the case for Erin Goodman, who began her career as an elementary school teacher; but she found it was not the right fit and suffered a nervous breakdown during her first year on the job. For the first time, she had suicidal thoughts, and sought out treatment. She also changed careers believing that her challenges with anxiety, depression, and suicidality were situational and would be solved when she didn’t have the stress of a classroom in her life.
She went on to get married and have kids, and successfully managed her anxiety and depression for many years -- until 2013 when she experienced another severe mental health crisis that included episodes of psychosis and suicide attempt. During this time, she spent 4 months in and out of the hospital – and it was a psychiatrist at Butler Hospital that helped her breakthrough her psychosis. He was also the first one to plant the seed with her that when she recovered, she could use her experience to help others. He urged her to consider a career where she could work directly with suicide survivors. That idea led her to become a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist and eventually to become the Certified Peer Recovery Specialist for Washington County Zero Suicide and Wood River Health Services in Washington County, RI. It was the right fit.
“Part of what I bring to my role as a Peer Recovery Specialist is ‘street cred’,” says Goodman. “I understand how dark things can get. I’m able to let patients know I am here to help, and I do it with no judgment.”
Working closely with doctors, nurses, social workers, and others, Goodman loves the fact that in her role, she can do things for patients that others on the team can’t always do – like meet them at a Dunkin Donuts for coffee or give them frequent check-in calls to see how they are doing. “I want them to know I’m a resource on the front line to help them solve whatever their problem is – be it helping them with a housing issue or helping them find access to food.”
Since her discharge from Butler Hospital in September 2013, Erin has been living in recovery and slowly worked to rebuild her life and create a new career. Her treatment team helped her see that she had many options and helped give her hope for the future. They also helped her to process and grieve the end of her marriage, which has been an important part of her healing. “The end of my marriage, combined with the right therapy, the right medications, learning to set healthy boundaries, and practice self-care – it all came together for me,” she says.
Goodman now co-facilitates a group called Survivors of Suicide (SOSA), an 8-week program with a curriculum established by the Didi Hirsch Center 2019-01-24 SOSA Rack Card-LA-national.indd (lacounty.gov).
She, as the Peer Recovery Specialist with survivor experience, is paired with a clinician to run the groups. The groups are open to anyone (18+) in Southern Rhode Island, and neighboring areas, who has experienced a suicide attempt. The program is designed to provide a safe space for suicide survivors to talk and share challenges and struggles as well as successes and new coping skills. The groups meet weekly – and though they had to meet virtually during the pandemic, they have now returned to in-person meetings. One condition of joining the group; members need to sign a release and they need to have their own mental health counselor, so the clinician who is co-facilitating the group has someone to connect with when there are signs a group member needs increased support.
“One outcome of the pandemic that is positive,” says Goodman, “is that it has shined a spotlight on mental health challenges and it is my hope people will talk more openly about them. I already see this happening with teens and college-age kids, who are much more open than I ever was about talking about struggles with anxiety and depression.”
In addition to her role as Peer Recovery Specialist, Goodman is an ordained interfaith minister, serving people of all faiths in times of celebration, sorrow and transition. She also serves as a faculty member for Zero Suicide Institute Zero Suicide Institute | Solutions.edc.org.