What is Peer Support?
Peer support encompasses a range of activities and interactions between people who share similar experiences of mental health conditions, substance use disorders, or both. This mutual connection—often called "peerness"—promotes emotional support, connection, and inspires hope.
Peer support offers acceptance, understanding, and validation that is not found in many professional relationships. By sharing their lived experiences and practical guidance, peer support workers help individuals define their goals, create strategies for self-empowerment, and take concrete steps toward building fulfilling, self-determined lives.
What Does a Peer Support Worker Do?
A peer support worker is someone with the lived experience of recovery from a mental health condition or substance use disorder. They provide support to others facing similar challenges. Their role includes:
Inspiring hope: Sharing personal recovery stories and demonstrating that recovery is possible.
Walking with people: Offering empathy and guidance through recovery journeys.
Dispelling myths: Addressing stigma and misinformation about mental health and substance use disorders.
Providing self-help resources: Linking people to tools and information to support their recovery.
Supporting goal setting: Helping individuals identify and achieve personal goals while creating a roadmap for their future.
Peer support workers practice in a variety of settings, including peer-run organizations, recovery community centers, correctional facilities, hospitals, child welfare agencies, and shelters.
How Does Peer Support Help?
Peer support workers facilitate recovery by creating trust and building relationships. They bring their firsthand knowledge of recovery to:
Reduce stigma and foster acceptance.
Offer experiential knowledge as a critical component of recovery models.
Empower individuals to envision and achieve their goals.
Does Peer Support Make a Difference?
Research has shown that peer support leads to measurable benefits, such as:
Increased engagement in treatment and services.
Reduced hospital admissions and improved use of community resources.
Increased sense of hope, empowerment, and self-esteem.
Enhanced empathy and social connectedness.
Decreased psychiatric symptoms and substance use relapse.
Improved satisfaction with services and overall quality of life.
Peer support is more than assistance; it is a movement toward community and empowerment.
Voices of Peer Support
"Because of peer support, I am alive!" – Melodie
"When I saw that other people recovered, it gave me hope that I could too." – Corinna
"Peer support allowed me to feel 'normal.'" – Jean
"Peer support has been there for me no matter what, and now I am able to help others." – Liza
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