“Peer support is a system of giving and receiving help founded on key principles of respect, shared responsibility, and mutual agreement of what is helpful. Peer support is not based on psychiatric models and diagnostic criteria. It is about understanding another’s situation empathically through the shared experience of emotional and psychological pain. When people find affiliation with others they feel are ‘like’ them, they feel a connection. This connection, or affiliation, is a deep, holistic understanding based on mutual experience where people are able to ‘be’ with each other without the constraints of traditional (expert/patient) relationships.” (Mead, 2001)
As a best-practice model for supporting people who have been diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI), peer support can be one of the most effective tools a person can utilize on the journey to recovery.
This model relies on people who have lived experience, meaning they live with mental illness themselves.
These people then provide peer-to-peer support to others, drawing on their own experiences to promote wellness and recovery. It is one based more on empathy rather than sympathy.
Empathy is the capacity to share or recognize emotions experienced by another sentient being. One may need to have a certain amount of empathy before being able to experience accurate sympathy or compassion.
“Peer support is about getting help from someone who’s been there”, said Alice in Phoenix, Arizona. “It is based on empathy, mutuality and respect.”
Peer support focuses on wellness and recovery rather than on illness and diagnosis.
Peers share with one another their experiences, their strengths, and their hope—a powerful combination for recovery.
See video: Peer Support around the world – Uganda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d40zY0sEJLY
Peer Specialists are themselves mental health consumers who have completed specific training that enables them to enhance a person’s wellness and recovery by providing peer support.
Peer Specialists work in a variety of locations, such as peer support centers, crisis stabilization units, respite programs, living skills programs, and in psychiatric hospitals. More and more they are being recognized and appreciated for what they can do within the mental health field.
Peer support can be a one-on-one experience or a group of people sharing together.