Andrea Monroe, CPS

I am Andrea Monroe. I was a Certified Peer Specialist for the Biloxi VA (retired now). I joined the Grief Recovery Institute to help guide others through their grief journey. I am no stranger to grief; in 2017, my stepfather called to tell me my younger brother overdosed on Christmas Day. My mother died exactly 22 days after my brother passed with metastatic cancer. After my brother’s death, I built a new relationship with his daughter and her mother. The very next Christmas, my niece’s mother would die of a suspected overdose. In 2023, my father passed away from a long-term illness, and my sister hid an entire year of severe cancer from me. When she told me, she died two weeks later. I was devastated; she was the closest person to me besides my daughter. I was lost without my mentor. A co-worker introduced me to the Grief Recovery Method. This was an extraordinary system to learn and has helped me continue to move forward in my recovery journey. I have worked in recovery with Veterans since 2015, facilitating hundreds of groups and individual sessions. I am honored to help others move forward in their health and wellness. FORMAL EDUCATION VA Certified Peer Support Specialist Course 76-Hour Course hosted by RI Consulting 03/2017 Certified Peer Support Specialist Course 03-2014 40-hour course hosted by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health Bachelor of Arts, Applied Science 12/2010 Midwestern State University, Wichita, TX Relative Coursework: Social Work in Human Resources; Human Resource Management; Diversity Associate degree, Radiology 05/2009