 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.

 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

 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

 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.

 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: Promotes a ‘trauma-informed’ way of relating- instead of asking ‘what’s wrong’ we think about ‘what happened’?

 IPS : looks beyond the notion of individuals needing to change and examines our lives in the context of our relationships and communities.

 Peer Support relationships are viewed as partnerships that enable both parties to learn and grow- rather than as one person needing to ‘help’ another.

 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.

 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."

 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.

 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.

1. Connection 2. Worldview 3. Mutuality 4. Moving Toward

 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.

 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: 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 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.

 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.

 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.