Peer Support: An Alternative Approach
Peer support has traditionally meant informal, non-professionalized help from people who have had similar life experiences. In mental health peers come together with many shared experiences including a negative reaction to traditional services. However without a new framework to build from it is not uncommon to find people re-enacting “help” based on what was done to them. Some people take on positions of power and others fall into passive recipient roles. Therefore, all training emphasizes a critical learning experience in which people mutually explore “how they’ve come to know what they know.” In other words, through intentional conversations, people examine their assumptions about who they are, what power-shared relationships can look like, and ultimately what’s possible