What is a peer support worker?
Peer support workers are people with lived experience of mental health challenges. Our expertise isn’t based on things we’ve been taught from books or university; it comes from our own personal experiences. You can choose whether you would like to work with us.
What is the aim of peer support?
Sometimes it helps to know that you’re not alone and someone else has been through something similar.
We believe that nobody is more recovered or knowledgeable than the next person and hope to develop an equal and mutual relationship that will support your recovery. Together we can learn from our past experiences and look at how we can do things differently
What we do
Peer support workers provide one to one and group support.
We will meet with you to discuss the things that matter to you. This might be things:
- that are impacting you
- you are finding challenging
- that could support your recovery e.g. hobbies and interests.
Because we have first-hand experience of a mental health problem, we can understand many of the difficulties you may be facing and can share things that we have both found helpful.
We work to the Trust’s co-produced peer support values which are:
- authenticity
- relationship
- validation
- respect
- mutuality
- empowerment.
Where do we work?
We are happy to try to do things differently and will agree with you where our meetings will take place. This will be at a location that works for both of us. This could be in a clinic, your home or somewhere more public like a café or park.
Sharing information about you
We try to adopt a “nothing about us, without us philosophy”. This means, if you’re not there, or haven’t given us permission, we won’t discuss you.
As with any member of NHS staff, we need to record when we have met for an appointment but, we will always work with you to co-produce notes from our meetings. If something is discussed that you don’t want including in your notes, we will not put this in.
However, sometimes you may share information that we are obligated to report, for example if there is a concern about safeguarding or duty of care. You can read more about this in patient and carer information on our confidentiality page.
L1061, V2, 14/07/2020 (Archive 14/07/2023)
