Global Peer Support Day
Today is Global Peer Support Day!
This day was originally thought of in 2014 at the annual International Association of Peer Supporters (iNAPS) conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Dan O’Brien-Mazza, who was then the National Director of Peer Support Services with the Veteran’s Administration floated the idea of a national day at the meeting, for which there was much enthusiasm.
Since that time, it has grown into an international event, which happens annually on the third Thursday of October. Global Peer Support Day was created to celebrate peer support, peer supporters, and the work they do in support of their peers. Peer supporters do incredible work, using their own lived experience to support peers on their road to recovery. Peer support is a growing field, however, many still have not heard of it and others still do not understand it.
Global Peer Support Day is the ideal time to increase awareness and understanding of peer support.
What is peer support?
Peer support is emotional and social support between people who share a common experience, such as a mental health challenge. Peer Support is a worthy complement to clinical mental healthcare, as it supports recovery.
Peer support happens in many ways, across an entire spectrum from informal peer support, that occurs naturally and in an organic way, often in the community to formalized, structured peer support, which happens inside the clinical health care system, such as outpatient clinics.
A key component of peer support is the relatability. It is valued for its authenticity because of the shared experience, which creates a deep mutual understanding. Wouldn’t our wellness journeys look different, if we could all access peer support across the entire spectrum from community, to workplace, to the clinical system?
What is a peer supporter?
A peer supporter is someone who has experienced a mental health challenge, either personally or through the experience of a loved one (family peer support) and is in a positive state of recovery and readiness to support others. The peer supporter uses their lived experience with a mental health and/or addiction challenge to inspire hope and empower others in similar situations by providing social and emotional support.
Peer supporters who are working or volunteering within a formalized program take training that generally includes topics such as practicing peer support within a trauma informed framework, stigma, communications, stages of change, confidentiality, boundaries, supporting someone in crisis and so on. Peer supporters may also become certified. In Canada, certification is done nationally through Peer Support Canada, which requires a certain number of peer support hours, references, a national exam and a mentorship component.
What is lived experience?
Just as peer support happens across the spectrum, peer supporters with deep and diverse lived experience support others on their journey to wellness. Shared lived experience might be around mental health challenges, specific work roles or workplaces, chronic health conditions, life experiences such as divorce, caregiving or parenting and so on. A shared lived experience will not be identical, all our journeys are different, however, we can find connections within our individual stories. Discovering we are not alone, that others have found a way through, is incredibly hopeful and decreases feelings of isolation.
“Peer Support is incredibly powerful, it changes lives. I know for me, it helped me recognize that I did not need to be silent and that I was not alone. As we celebrate Global Peer Support Day, we would love to hear about the impact that connecting with a peer had on your wellbeing. ”