Do you know much about the Certificate IV in mental health peer work?

Hello SANE crew,

I love this space already and have only been here a short while 😊.

I am in my mid fifties and have lived with CPTSD since I was 17, I didn't even know what was wrong with me until I hit my 40's, and found my "best fit" therapist in my 50's! I'm still mastering my Internal Family System through my therapy but I finally feel hopeful that life will continue to be less painful and difficult as my "toolkit" of skills to manage dysregulation and all that surrounds it.

I have been high functioning throughout my journey and despite leaving my 7 schools education journey with not a qualification to my name, I have organised and promoted "rave" parties with up to 10,000 attendees, published recipe books, hosted a cooking segment on TV & currently run a >130 employee business with my wife. Sounds impressive on paper but as many others with CPTSD may relate to, perfectionism and over-achievement bring no solace.

I am now at a crossroads in my life as we will be selling our business mid 2025, so I have started thinking about what I really want to do with the rest of my life. After a lot of reading and investigating I want to do something related to helping younger folk who have lived through childhood trauma. I want to be someone I needed in my 20's, someone who can help others find a pathway to recovery and assist them on that journey.

I have found the Cert.IV in Mental Health Peer Support and now wonder whether this would be the best qualification to enable me to do this? I don't have the years it would take to get a degree in anything and besides I want a role where I am in direct contact with the person needing help. Have any of you done this course? What was it like? Is it the right course to do to get the work I would like? Are there better alternatives I should consider?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.