Peer Support is one of the best forms of therapy for helping people recover from mental distress and its impact on their lives. Other people who have experienced mental health issues offer insight and understanding and can draw on their own experiences to help. They offer an effective complement to the professional support offered by trained mental health workers.
Peer Support is at the core of our philosophy and at the heart of our services, and we promote it at every level of Together. It provides the foundation for our approach to helping users of Together’s mental health services live more rewarding and fulfilling lives.
For example, our Service User Involvement Directorate, which helps to shape our services, is comprised of people who have experienced mental health difficulties. Watch the video to hear Dr Rachel Perkins on the importance of Peer Support in mental health.
Peer2peer Group
We have also brought together the Peer2Peer group, a network of user-led organisations, statutory, community and academic experts who share fresh approaches to developing and running peer support programmes. Find out more about the work of the Peer2Peer Group.
I am not a diagnosis, I am a human being and as such I am more important than my diagnosis. Peer Support sees the person first, understands their distress and can offer true solutions that the supporting peer has used themselves.” Peer2Peer Group member
Peer Support report
Together, the University of Nottingham and the National Survivor User Network (NSUN) have also joined forces on a Peer Support research project that led to the production of Peer Support – Lived Experience Leading the Way. This is a significant piece of research into the value and impact of peer support.
In the pages of this report, in the work you have started and in your ambitious plans to develop peer-led services in the future, Together have made an enormously valuable contribution in the mental health arena. ” Rachel E. Perkins OBE, freelance consultant and trainer, Mind Champion of the Year 2010
Download Peer Support – Lived Experience Leading the Way
Lived experience leading the way: Peer support in mental health - Executive SummaryHelp us map Peer Support around the UK
We’re trying to create a map of Peer Support services around the UK and we’d appreciate your help. If you know of or have been involved in a Peer Support initiative, please take a few minutes to fill out our Peer Support Mapping Questionnaire. This will enable networking, learning and sharing in mental health. Thank you.
Read more about Peer Support in mental health
Find out more
For more information about Together’s peer support activities, please contact: