Ashley Kernbishop

“Creativity, Compassion, and Connection in Action”

This month, we are honored to shine a light on Ashley Kernbishop, Peer Support Specialist with our PACT Team in Yakima. Ashley’s compassion, creativity, and unwavering dedication to recovery support are recognized daily by the peers she walks alongside, her teammates, and now even by the University of Washington. She embodies the heart of peer support with every interaction, showing up with empathy, authenticity, and a powerful commitment to helping others rediscover hope.

Ashley brings innovation and intention to her work, developing a growing collection of interactive, recovery-based activities that have transformed her groups into engaging, empowering spaces. Through tools such as Recovery Jeopardy, WRAP Uno, Recovery Therapy Ball, Recovery Jenga, Recovery Bingo, and Peer Exchange, she fosters core values of self-determination, resilience, and connectedness. These activities may look like games on the surface, but in practice, they become vehicles for expression, confidence building, and therapeutic growth.

Ashley also guides peers in gratitude-based practices, including letter-writing and reflection exercises that help individuals recognize support systems, honor personal strengths, and experience the emotional benefits of gratitude. Beyond the classroom, she organizes social outings with intentional educational components, helping peers experience recovery through community engagement and shared joy.

Her creativity shines through the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) program, where she designed visual learning materials and supported the program’s first graduating cohort with framed certificates and tie-dye shirts – handmade by the participants themselves. These celebrations mark success while reinforcing pride, identity, and forward momentum in recovery.

What truly sets Ashley apart is the heart behind her work. Guided by her own recovery journey, she offers a living example of what is possible. Her transformation — from addiction and uncertainty to purpose and leadership — reminds each peer she meets that healing is real, hope is alive, and no one is ever beyond the reach of recovery.

We are proud to have Ashley as part of the Comprehensive Healthcare team, and grateful for the light she brings to the PACT program and every life she touches.