WHAT IS INTENTIONAL PEER SUPPORT?

PRESENTED BYDAVID DEDRICKSON; PEER SUPPORT, RECOVERY MENTOR VETERAN

BIG CLINICAL DEFINITION:

Intentional Peer Support is a way of thinking about

purposeful relationships.

It is a process where both people (or a group of people) use

the relationship to look at things from new angles, develop

greater awareness of personal and relational patterns, and

to support and challenge each other as we try new things.

WHAT IS A “PEER”

A ‘peer’ is someone who has been there. People with

similar experiences may be able to listen, give hope

and guidance toward recovery in a way that is different,

and may be just as valuable, as professional services

Can you think of examples of what a peer means

to you

WHAT PEER SUPPORT IS NOT:

It is not about providing treatment

It is not about taking care of someone or

being a paid friend.

It is not based on psychiatric/medical models

or diagnoses

WHAT PEER SUPPORT IS

Peer support is about both giving and receiving

It is trauma-informed, recognizing the value of exploring "what has

happened to you?"

Peer support encourages each of us to re-evaluate how we've come to

know what we know

It is about creating relationships that we can use to take a bigger-picture

look at how we have learned to operate in the world and what we want.

IPS IS DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL SERVICE RELATIONSHIPS BECAUSE:

It doesn’t start with the assumption of “a problem.”

Instead people are taught to listen for how and

why each of us has learned to make sense of our

experiences, and then use the relationship to create

new ways of seeing, thinking, and doing.

IPS IS DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL SERVICE RELATIONSHIPS BECAUSE:

IPS: Promotes a ‘trauma-informed’

way of relating- instead of asking

‘what’s wrong’ we think about ‘what

happened’?

IPS IS DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL SERVICE RELATIONSHIPS BECAUSE:

IPS : looks beyond the notion of individuals

needing to change and examines our lives in the

context of our relationships and communities.

IPS IS DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL SERVICE RELATIONSHIPS BECAUSE:

Peer Support relationships are viewed as

partnerships that enable both parties

to learn and grow- rather than as one

person needing to ‘help’ another.

IPS IS DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL SERVICE RELATIONSHIPS BECAUSE:

Instead of a focus on what we need to

stop or avoid doing, we are

encouraged to move towards what

and where we want to be.

3 PRINCIPALS AND 4 TASKS

FROM HELPING TO LEARNING

Learning versus helping:  IPS is specifically about building a relationship where both people learn and grow, rather than one person helping the other (or taking it in turns to help each other). This changes the dynamics of the relationship - both are there to learn, not to "fix problems."

FROM INDIVIDUAL TO RELATIONSHIP

Individual versus Relationship:  Rather than focus on one

person (usually the one who has "problems"), IPS specifically

shifts the focus to the relationship. Each person is encouraged

to be present to the other and to engage in a way that is real.

This also encourages a shift away from "helping" to both

people using the relationship to learn more about themselves

and their relationships.

FROM FEAR TO HOPE

Fear versus Hope and possibility:  IPS is about

approaching discomfort and fear in new ways.

Rather than operating from a place of fear, we

operate from a place of hope. This hope is

underpinned by the knowledge that there is learning

to be gained by moving through discomfort.

FOUR CENTRAL TASKS IN INTENTIONAL PEER SUPPORT

1. Connection

2. Worldview

3. Mutuality

4. Moving Toward

CONNECTION:

Connection:  Connection is the core of peer support.

It is the powerful sense when we realize that someone else

"gets it." It is the beginning of building trust. But the

connection isn't permanent - we have to work at it; when

we notice disconnection, we need to be willing to explore

what's happening.

WORLD VIEW:

Worldview: Through honest connection we can then explore

with each other, seeking to understand how we have come to

know what we "know." Together, we look at how we make

sense of what's going on, and learn to sit with the differences

in our worldviews. This process may challenge us to rethink

our ideas and the "stories" we tell ourselves.

MUTUALITY:

Mutuality: In a relationship based on IPS principles, both

people learn, grow and are challenged through the

relationship. Mutuality is not to be confused with reciprocity -

people taking it in turns to help each other. Mutuality means

being in relation with another person, while staying present

and aware of our own reactions, worldview, needs and

assumptions.

MOVING TOWARD: Moving Towards: Instead of thinking about moving

away from our problems (and what we don't want),

in IPS each person in the relationship reflects on

what we want to move towards. Often, in mental

health, focusing on our problems keeps us stuck.

MOVING TOWARD - (CONTINUED):

It's important to note that this task is not just about "positive

thinking" or "problem solving," but builds on the work in the other

steps - the mutuality and real connection of the relationship, and

thoughtfully reconsidering our worldview and how we have come

to know what we "know" about ourselves and the world. In some

ways, this last task arises naturally out of the other three -

the tasks are in order for good reason!

It is one of the most beautiful compensations in life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.        —Ralph

Waldo Emerson

“[Peer support] has helped me to have hope and faith. [Peer support] has

helped in my optimism toward life again and has helped me cope successfully with family matters and

many others.” Quote from a consumer who received peer support.

SUMMARY

So all in all, intentional peer support is a way of life; a way of communicating that honors individual experience as well as relational growth.

It is a system of giving and receiving that ultimately helps us build healthier communities all the way around.

MAYBE ASK FOR PEER SUPPORT?