The PSC is operating both online through Teams and in-person. You can enter our Teams meeting by clicking on the Teams meeting link. Once you enter the meeting, you will be greeted by one of our kind and compassionate volunteers who will walk you through our confidentiality form and will be a listening ear for you for the remainder of the session. 

• Queers 4 Peers: A new section of the Peer Support Centre (PSC) offering confidential and empathetic sessions during which Queer-identifying volunteers listen to Queer students and provide helpful resource referrals and events hosted by Queer students, for Queer students

• BIPOC Talk is a branch of the Peer Support Centre that is catered towards BIPOC students. Sessions are conducted by BIPOC-identifying volunteers who are trained to confidentially, non-judgementally, and empathetically listen to students and recommend appropriate resources

• TALKS Week: The aim of the Queen’s TALKS campaign is to spread the word that you don’t have to be an expert to help a friend.  Each fall the Peer Support Centre holds this week-long campaign to encourage members of the Queen’s community to support each other in times of need.

• Cares Week: the Peer Support Centre dedicates one week during the winter term to promoting self-care and self-compassion. Being a student can be stressful, and we often forget how important it is to prioritize our own well-being.

Organisation

Address: Rideau Building, Rooms 202, 203, and 204 Mitchell Hall Satellite Location: Health Promotion Hub, Rm. 122

Country: Australia

Email: peersupport@ams.queensu.ca

Call 613-533-6000 ext. 75111

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The Artsy Peer is an artistic approach to peer support, from someone with compassion and understanding from first hand experience as a mental health consumer and as a mental health worker. It is a program designed to empower, encourage, and inspire the individual to be artistic, creative and innovative in being the sole person in their own journey through recovery.

Organisation

Email: Lfreeman@artsypeer.com

Call (470) 440-1248

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Asylum is a radical mental health magazine that has been running for 30 years, acting as a platform to voice and discuss all perspectives on mental health. The views expressed on the Asylum magazine website are those of individual contributors and not necessarily those of the collective. Articles are accepted in good faith and every effort is made to ensure fairness and veracity.

Asylum Associates

Asylum Associates

Asylum associates is the action arm of Asylum Working towards a social firm for training, conferences, publishing, advocacy and community facilitation

Address
Limbrick Centre, Limbrick Road Sheffield S6 2PE

Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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Bridge Collective (Exeter)

Bridge Collective (Exeter)

Bridge Collective (Exeter) are a democratic community where people who have experiences, beliefs, and feelings that have sometimes been labelled as mental illness are welcomed and can talk about these experiences freely, safely and without judgement; a place to participate in friendship, support, learning, teaching, discussion, being active, and making a valid contribution both within the collective and the wider community.

Address
Unit 4, King Street Business Centre, Exeter EX11BH

Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Contact Person / Email
info@bridgecollective.org.uk

Call 01392433358

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Critical and Creative Approaches to Mental Health Practice

Critical and Creative Approaches to Mental Health Practice

Critical and Creative Approaches to Mental Health Practice is for Critical and Creative Approaches to Mental Health Practice all who are passionate about sustaining creative and critical practice in mental health.

Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Contact Person / Email
ccramhp@gmail.com

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ReVision mental health 

ReVision mental health 

Revision is a coalition of radical activists who believe in the social model of mental health. They operate as a voice for change by promoting and exploring knowledge and understandings of the social, economic and political causes of mental distress, and by proposing socially derived alternatives to medicalised approaches. Their vision is a society in which the social causes of mental distress are understood and treated with socially based solutions that improve individual lives and bring about wider social change. 

Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The Paranoia Network

The Paranoia Network

The Paranoia Network brought together ideas from users and survivors of services as well as from clinicians and academics. Its history can be traced back at least through the experience and debates of the development of the Hearing Voices Network (HVN) and it continues in that ethos of creating safe spaces for the development of new knowledge and new ways of speaking.

Address
Limbrick Centre, Limbrick Road, Sheffield S6

Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Contact Person / Email
paranoianetwork@asylumonline.net

Call 0114 2718210

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Country: United States of America

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Better Mental Health Magazine is the only independent international consumer magazine dedicated to providing information for better mental health. They aim to raise awareness of general and specific mental health issues and ways of achieving better mental health and greater mental wellbeing. Better Mental Health Magazine is about taking mental health conversations from the shadows and bringing them into the spotlight. The purpose of this website is to promote Better Mental Health Magazine. We provide an entry-level and general approach to mental health and wellbeing. Like the magazine, the website is informational, based on professional expertise and personal experiences.

Organisation

Country: Australia

Postal Address: PO BOX 1579 Strawberry Hills New South Wales, 2012

Call +61 (0) 414 648 970

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The Center for Reintegration is a non-profit organization committed to helping people with mental illnesses pursue a meaningful life through reintegration-- the process by which a person with a mental illness finds meaningful work and education, restores his or her relationships, and moves toward independent living. To help achieve these goals, the Center for Reintegration provides useful information, resources, and supports for consumers, caregivers, employers, educators, family and friends.

Organisation

Address: 347 West 37th Street New York, New York 10018

Country: United States of America

Email: reintegration@reintegration.com

Call 212 957 5090

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COMHCO is New Jersey’s Statewide Consumer Membership Organization. The main purpose is to provide consumers with necessary education about personal and system wide options to enhance the lives of the members and the multitude of others across NJ. Through empowerment and advocacy training at monthly meetings and annual conference, COMHCO members are able to bring voice to the concerns and problems that those suffering mental illness face daily. They also work to raise awareness of the issues that affect mental health consumers by sitting on local, state, and national advisory boards, committees, and councils.

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Country: United States of America

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eFriend is a virtual peer support service and offers befriending sessions to connect you to eFriend Peers via video call or phone call. Our service is free and available to anyone feeling down, stressed, lonely, isolated or worried.

Organisation

Country: Australia

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eFriend is a FREE service that allows people who are feeling low, lonely or isolated to access peer support via phone or video calls. Our trained lived experience peer workers can offer insight, provide hope, and empathise from their own experience – whether you’re looking for support or just want someone to chat to.

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Country: Australia

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Free, confidential support from a helpline or hotline near you. Online chat, text or phone. Start by typing in your country.

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Healthyplace.com is the largest consumer mental health site on the net. We provide authoritative information and support to people with mental health concerns, along with their family members and other loved ones. At HealthyPlace.com, you'll find comprehensive, authoritative information on psychological disorders, psychiatric medications, and other mental health treatments. We also have online psychological tests, breaking mental health news, and more. At HealthyPlace.com, we help bring that to you by providing mental health information from experts, as well as everyday people who are dealing with psychological disorders.

Organisation

Call 210-225-4388

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Indigo Daya is a mad activist based in Melbourne, Australia. She works inside and outside the mental health system, seeking change that privileges the views of consumers and survivors. This blog is a space to share stories of hope, healing, improved practice and ideas for reform. After years of life as a revolving door psychiatric patient, heavily medicated, unemployed and without hope, I finally found a way out. It began with a therapist and a keyworker who saw my potential rather than my limitations, and helped me to find both hope and coping skills.

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Country: Australia

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Intentional Peer Support provides a powerful framework for creating relationships where both people learn and grow together.  Intentional Peer Support is a way of thinking about and inviting transformative relationships. Practitioners learn to use relationships to see things from new angles, develop greater awareness of personal and relational patterns, and support and challenge each other in trying new things.  IPS is unique from traditional human services because:

• IPS relationships are viewed as partnerships that invite and inspire both parties to learn and grow, rather than as one person needing to ‘help’ another.
• IPS doesn’t start with the assumption of a problem. With IPS, each of us pays attention to how we have learned to make sense of our experiences, then uses 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 learn to ask “What happened?”
• IPS examines our lives in the context of mutually accountable relationships and communities — looking beyond the mere notion of individual responsibility for change.
• IPS encourages us to increasingly live and move towards what we want instead of focusing on what we need to stop or avoid doing.

“Intentional Peer Support is about conversation. It’s about how we know, how we create new “knowing” through dialogue, and about how we as human beings interrelate by beginning to practice the art of connection – with ourselves, the people in our lives, and the people on the planet we may think we have nothing in common with.

Intentional Peer Support Advanced Training

Intentional Peer Support Advanced Training

IPS Advanced Training (3 days) is a 3-day Advanced Training to take IPS practice a step further, play out the principles and tasks using real-life scenarios, heighten self-reflection, enhance ways of building mutual connections, and sustain the practice. Our Advanced Trainings are for anyone who has completed a Core Training, and are tailored to fit your organization or community’s needs.

Co-reflection is a vital practice where people regularly come together to reflect on their relationships using the IPS framework. Here is an opportunity to examine relationships, look at assumptions, and sustain the tasks and principles. Our Core Training gets you started with Co-Reflection, and our Advanced Training helps you master it. Click here for our free Co-Reflection Guide.

Traditionally, crisis in mental health has been viewed as something undesirable or harmful, and risk assessment has led to fear-based responses that keep people stuck. In the Advanced Training, we focus on using crisis instead as an opportunity to connect, maintain mutuality, and create a culture of healing. Respite programs will find particular use as we further explore what it means to be trauma-informed, work with conflict and challenging situations, develop flexible boundaries, use pro-active crisis planning, and prepare for program evaluation.

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Intentional Peer Support Core Training

Intentional Peer Support Core Training

IPS Core Training (5 days)  is a 5-day introduction to this innovative framework and is designed to have you practicing right away. In a highly interactive environment, participants learn the tasks and principles of IPS, examine assumptions about who they are, and explore ways to create relationships in which power is negotiated, co-learning is possible, and support goes beyond traditional notions of “service.” IPS is all about opening up new ways of seeing, thinking, and doing, and here we examine how to make this possible. The IPS Core Training is for anyone interested in mutual support and has been widely used as a foundation training for people working in both traditional and alternative mental health settings. During the Core Training, participants learn to:

• Seek ways to connect, become aware of  disconnects, and work to reconnect
• Explore how we have “come to know what we know”
• Strive for mutuality in relationships
• Stay curious, question assumptions, and own judgements and opinions
• Open up new ways of listening
• Use experience to relate and build trust
• Name and negotiate power in relationships
• Approach crisis as an opportunity to grow
• Share risk and responsibility
• Focus on the quality of relationships instead of fixing one another
• Pay attention to the impact of clinical and labeling language
• Understand how trauma affects lives
• Keep the energy in relationships moving towards what we want
• Understand peer support in the context of social change and social justice

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Intentional Peer Support Train-The-Trainer 

Intentional Peer Support Train-The-Trainer 

IPS Train-The-Trainer is a hands-on seminar that prepares and designates IPS Organizational Trainers to teach the Core Content within the organization where they work. The IPS Organizational Trainer pathway is intended for organizations of 25 or less employees to increase sustainability of IPS after that organization has been trained in the IPS Core Training. At larger organizations, the scope of an IPS Organizational Trainer may be limited to specific programs or regions. Please contact us for more information. These are the basic steps to become an IPS Organizational Trainer:

1. Complete an IPS Core Training
2. Practice IPS for at least a year
3. Submit a Train-the-Trainer Application
4. Complete an IPS Train-the-Trainer Course
5. Become designated as an IPS Organizational Trainer upon demonstrating the IPS tasks and principles, strong communication skills, and a willingness to self-reflect
6. Regularly engage in Co-Reflection
7. Complete an IPS Refresher Course every two years to re-designate as an IPS Organizational Trainer

More information about becoming an IPS Organizational Trainer can be found in the Organizational Trainer Pathway and Organizational Trainer Agreement. Train-the-Trainer Courses can be arranged in your area by contacting us directly. We also host at least one “pay-by-the-seat” Train-the-Trainer Course in the U.S. per year, and once scheduled will be listed on our upcoming trainings page.

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Organisation

Country: United States of America

Postal Address: PO Box 259 West Chesterfield, NH 03466

Email: info@intentionalpeersupport.org

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Mad in America provides a resource and a community in rethinking psychiatric care. The site is designed to serve as a resource and a community for those interested in rethinking psychiatric care in the United States and abroad. We want to provide readers with news, personal stories, access to source documents, and the informed writings of bloggers that will further this enterprise. The bloggers on this site include people with lived experience, peer specialists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, program managers, social activists, attorneys, and journalists. While their opinions naturally vary, they share a belief that our current system of psychiatric care needs to be vastly improved, and, many would argue, transformed. 

Antidepressants

Antidepressants

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Antipsychotics

Antipsychotics

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How Psychopathic Drugs Act on The Brain

How Psychopathic Drugs Act on The Brain

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Mad in America Continuing Education

Mad in America Continuing Education

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Mad In America Global

Mad In America Global

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Mad in Asia Pacific

Mad in Asia Pacific

Mad in Asia Pacific is an online platform whose primary mission is to contribute to changing the narrative about madness and mental distress. We hope to showcase narratives that are contextually relevant for the Asia region that focus on the inclusion of persons with psychosocial disabilities as well as challenge the dominance of western biomedical psychiatry and clinical psychology. Led by persons with psychosocial disabilities from Asian countries and in collaboration with our allies including cross disability activists, mental health workers, academics, social justice campaigners, family and community members, Mad in Asia hopes to be a space for negotiating and nurturing such narratives. We welcome everyone interested in joining this online community for change.

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Mad In Brazil

Mad In Brazil

Country
Brazil

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Mad in Finland

Mad in Finland

Country
Finland

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Mad In Italy

Mad In Italy

Country
Italy

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Mad in Norway

Mad in Norway

Country
Norway

Contact Person / Email
post@madinnorway.org

Call 924 001 429

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Mad in Sweeden

Mad in Sweeden

Country
Sweden

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Mad in the UK

Mad in the UK

MITUK’s mission is to serve as a catalyst for fundamentally re-thinking theory and practice in the field of mental health in the UK, and promoting positive change. We believe that the current diagnostically-based paradigm of care has comprehensively failed, and that the future lies in non-medical alternatives which explicitly acknowledge the causal role of social and relational conflicts, abuses, adversities and injustices. We campaign for a change in the professional and public discourse about emotional distress and unusual experiences; for support, both within and beyond services, which meets people’s real needs; and for social policy which addresses the causes of distress at its roots. MITUK will strive to do this in several ways by:

• Providing summaries of research articles that regularly go unnoticed in the general media because they challenge conventional wisdom.
• Hosting a community of writers with diverse experiences and backgrounds who share our belief that the current paradigm of mental health care has failed and needs to be rethought.
• Providing a forum for readers to add their thoughts and opinions to this discussion.
• Reporting in-depth pieces that deconstruct the conventional ‘evidence base’ for psychiatric drugs and other aspects of current mental health care and tell of alternatives to conventional interventions.
• Providing links to a range of websites, podcasts and blogs that also offer ideas, information, projects and resources beyond the current paradigm

Although most of our content will be determined by this fundamental vision, we do not wish to set rigid limits on content, and it may sometimes be useful to invite contributions and debates from people who come from a different perspective. Members of the MITUK collective may have their own preferences and opinions on these topics and will sometimes publicly express their thoughts under their own names in blogs or by commenting on articles. They do so as members of the larger MITUK community, and not as representatives of MITUK. Mad in the UK has no links with Scientology and will never knowingly promote or host Scientology content.

Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Contact Person / Email
info@madintheuk.com

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Organisation

Address: Mad in America Foundation 763 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite #2 Cambridge, MA 02139

Country: United States of America

Email: info@madinamerica.com

Call 617-499-4354

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Madness Radio: Voices and Visions From Outside Mental Health is a regular FM show produced through WXOJ-LP in Northampton MA, and aired on KWMD in Anchorage Alaska, KBOO in Portland Oregon, and several other stations. Madness Radio is syndicated through the Pacifica community radio network and shows are picked up by stations around the country and internationally. The show is also vailable online and through iTunes. Hour long shows are produced monthly, with a special 30-minute version also available.

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"I have dedicated the last 30 years of my life to learning from people who have mental health issues, the simple, safe, non-invasive ways that they get well, stay well and move forward in there lives, and then sharing  what I have learned with others through keynote addresses, trainings and the development of books, curriculums and other resources. Now that I am retired, and that, as I intended, others are continuing to share what I have learned, I want to continue to learn from those of you who have mental health issues and those of you who support us, and to, when appropriate, share that information."

Organisation

Country: United States of America

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Mary O'Hagan is an  international speaker, consultant and writer who is a leader on service user perspectives, has used for her unique expertise in recovery, wellbeing and discrimination and works in the Netherlands, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Mary was an initiator of the service user movement in New Zealand, the first chair of the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry, an advisor to the United Nations and World Health Organization and a Mental Health Commissioner for New Zealand.

Mary O'Hagan is a well known innovator, thinker and writer. She has used her lived experience of mental health problems and her extensive work experience to develop straight answers to the curly questions in mental health.  Mary O'Hagan used mental health services in New Zealand for eight years as a young woman. Ever since, she has worked to make a difference to the way society and services respond to people with major mental distress. Mary is:

• An initiator of the service user movement in New Zealand
• The first chair of the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry
• An advisor to the United Nations and World Health Organization 
• A Mental Health Commissioner for New Zealand 
• An  international speaker, consultant and writer
• An international thought leader on service user perspectives
• Used for her unique expertise in recovery, wellbeing and discrimination 
• Working in the Netherlands, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand

Mary has given many keynote talks in England, Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Greece, the Netherlands, Japan, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. She talks to managers, practitioners, people with lived experience and the public. Her talks entertain and provoke. They are always grounded in the perspectives of people with lived experience of mental distress. Mary talks about topics as diverse as:

• User/survivor perspectives in mental health
• User/survivor leadership
• Peer run services
• Recovery based systems
• Recovery and wellbeing
• Discrimination and social exclusion
• Compulsory treatment
• The experience of psychosis

Mary provides workshops and training courses throughout the world. She blends idealism with pragmatism and tailors her workshops to meet the clients needs. They include:

• One-off workshops
• Recovery oriented services and systems
• Alternatives to compulsory treatment
• Recovery approaches to risk management
• Recovery planning
• Peer support and advocacy
• Understanding psychosis from the inside
• Service user leadership in services
• Discrimination and human rights

Framework for Recovery-Based Service System

Framework for Recovery-Based Service System

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Peer Zone

Peer Zone

PeerZone is shared learning for wellbeing, designed and delivered by and for people with experience of mental distress.  It is a series of three hour peer facilitated face-to-face sessions (learning packages) where participants engage in mutual support, deepen their understanding of their experience and develop tools for wellbeing in all the major life domains. The face-to-face groups are backed up by online resources and a chat facility.

• Peerzone Employment
• Peerzone Consultancy
• Peerzone Workshops
• Peerzone Toolkit

Address
PO Box 517, Wellington 6140

Country
New Zealand

Call + 64 (4) 385 4277

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Recovery Consultancy

Recovery Consultancy

Mary provides a unique consultancy service for managers and leaders who want to build more recovery or wellbeing oriented services or systems. She combines her lived experience as well as her understanding of the grass roots and of the high level policy world, with her knowledge of recovery and wellbeing.

Mary is available to do what the client needs. If the client wants something more comprehensive Mary uses her systemic recovery framework to do a recovery review of a service, whether it is small or large. She visits the service, talks to stakeholders, then provides a report with suggestions that will help to fast track the service towards a more complete recovery orientation. Mary has completed recovery reviews in Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Scotland and England.

Country
New Zealand

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Organisation

Address: 6th Floor, West Block, Education House, 178 Willis St, Wellington.

Country: New Zealand

Postal Address: PO Box 6627, Marion Square Wellington 6011, New Zealand.

Email: mary@maryohagan.com

Call +64 4 3854277

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Mental Health and Survivors Movement and Context is an archive of mental health survivor documents in a range of formats

Organisation

Country: United Kingdom

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The Mental Health Forum allows mental health consumers share experiences, ask questions or vent emotions with people who know what’s it’s like to experience mental health difficulties and everything that goes alongside them. The Mental Health Forum was started by the UK based charity the Mental Health Foundation and is now run by a large team of experienced volunteers with the support of the non-profit organisation Together 4 Change. It is possible to talk with others on the Mental Health Forum through the following forums:

Choice Forum

Choice Forum

The Choice Forum has been been the place to discuss issues affecting the lives of people with learning disabilities in the UK. Members include people with learning disabilities, parents, friends, relatives, people working in the field, national and local policy makers, service providers and commissioners. The Choice Forum is a neutral, friendly place where we can come together online ti:

• Ask questions about supporting people with learning disabilities
• Exchange knowledge, experiences and information
• Highlight and discuss concerns
• Support each other
• Find out the latest learning disability related news, events and information, and
• Connect with other like-minded people.

The Choice Forum incorporates the PMLD Network. You can find out more about their history here.

Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Contact Person / Email
Your Name: *

Call 01865 600034

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How-To-Guides

How-To-Guides

Mental Health Forums guides were written by members of our forum and contain valuable information on how to go about tackling difficult situations, such as navigating Mental Health Services, returning to work, learning to live with voices, supporting a person with dementia, and more. How-to-guides include:

• Mindfulness
• Coming Off Psychiatric Medications
• Dementia
• Living With Voices
• Navigating Mental Health Services
• Returning to Work
• Returning to Work for Managers

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Mental Health Forum International

Mental Health Forum International

Mental Health Forums provide a wealth of useful information in the posts on the forum and on their website.

• Anxiety
• Bipolar Disorder
• Depression
• Parent
• Hallucinations
• Psychosis & Elderly People
• Self-Harm
• Suicidal Crisis

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The Working to Recovery Online Recovery College was a project we ran for a number of years. It’s now back on a new fantastic simple to use platform, courses have been updated where necessary and we will also be introducing new courses. Unlike other Recovery Colleges that have a geographical basis, this online college is open to anyone, anywhere. Students are able to share and learn from each other from around the world, learning whenever they want, wherever they want.

Organisation

Country: Australia

Email: karen@workingtorecovery.co.uk

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The Peerconnect website which provides practical information about peer networks in Australia. Its focus is on the disability community. A peer support network is where people get together as equals to provide support to each other because of similar experiences or circumstances in their life. There is evidence that peer support can help people feel more confident, knowledgeable, capable, and less isolated. The website includes:

• Find a Peer Network: a list of peer networks around Australia.
• Setting up and running peer networks: many useful Quick Guides (fact sheets) and video clips that can help you set up and run a peer support network.
• Quick Guides: guides about the topics that peer networks may want to talk about including things like the NDIS, housing, employment, education, disability trusts, and how to plan. Some of the Quick Guides you will find on this website cover more than one idea so they are available in more than one place, we hope you don't mind but we'd rather you found them twice. 
• Peer Network Stories: a collection of stories from peer networks and their members across Australia.
• Learning and Improvement: an online training resource to assist peer organisations in building their evaluation capacity.
• the Families4Families Peer Support Network share what being part of a network means to them.
• Contact Your Local Disability Support Organisation (DSO)
• Disability Loop
• Skill Project
• Covid-19 Resources
• Online Community Groups
• Imagine More Peer Support Groups
• Community Initiatives
• Easy Read Resources
• Auslan Resources
• Resources in Other Languages
• Case Studies
• Fasciliator Guides
• ATSI Resources

Organisation

Country: Australia

Email: admin@juliafarr.org.au

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The Peer Mediation Network is a group of organisations, professionals and educators collaborating to foster best practice in conflict resolution for young people by young people. The Peer Mediation Network is made up of trainers organisations working to promote peer mediation  in schools in the United Kingdom. They believe this is really important work, and requires a holistic approach: we are schools, charities, businesses and individuals coming together to provide the best possible training and support for children and young people engaging in conflict resolution. Using our Network, we put together people who need training with local providers and resources. We draw attention to the amazing work of peer mediators and make the case for more commitment to these life skills. Currently we are working on a shared training a approval for peer mediation, promoted best practice wherever you are. This will provide a qualification for children and young people in mediation.

• Training: find a training provider near you through the Network members offer training and support for schools and young people to develop mediation skills and systems in hundreds of schools.
• Next Meeting: the Peer Mediation Network is a place for organisations and trainers to share best practice, resources and support. We meet for skillshares and to develop joint projects.

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Organisation

Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Call 02076631009

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The Peer Respite website provides the public access to resources about peer respites in the United States. The resources available on PeerRespite.net include:

• The criteria and definition of a Peer Respite
• The Peer Respite Directory (updated in 2018)
• The Guidebook for Peer Support Program Self-Evaluation 
• Reports from the Peer Respite Essential Features Surveys conducted in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018, which document nationwide trends in organizational characteristics and policies.
• A repository of research on peer respites.

A peer respite is a voluntary, short-term, overnight program that provides community-based, non-clinical crisis support to help people find new understanding and ways to move forward. It operates 24 hours per day in a homelike environment.  Peer respites are staffed and operated by people with psychiatric histories or who have experienced trauma and/or extreme states. This means that100% of staff have lived experience of extreme states and/or the behavioral health system

All individuals in program/house management positions have lived experience of extreme states and/or the mental health system. Job descriptions for program/house management positions require lived experience of extreme states and/or the mental health system. The peer respite is either operated by a peer-run organization OR has an advisory group with 51% or more members having lived experience of extreme states and/or the behavioral health system

Peer respites were designed as psychiatric hospital diversion programs to support individuals experiencing or at-risk of a psychiatric crisis. The premise behind peer respites is that psychiatric emergency services can be avoided if less coercive or intrusive supports are available in the community. Peer respites engage guests in mutual, trusting relationships with peer staff. Peer support involves a process of mutual helping based on the principles of respect and shared responsibility. Peer support includes interactions in which individuals help themselves and others through fostering relationships and engaging in advocacy to empower people to participate in their communities.

MEMBERS

• 2nd Story Peer Respite House

• Blackbird House

• Hacienda of Hope

• SHARE!

• Cedar Home

• Gainesville Peer Respite

• Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Center of Bartow County

• Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Center of Colquitt County

• Peer Support and Wellness Center of Decatur

• Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Center of Henry County

• Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Center of White County

• Rhonda's House - Life Connections Peer Recovery Services

• Afiya - Western Massachusetts Recovery Learning Community

• Keya House

• Conway Peer Support Center

• HEARTS

• Monadnock Peer Respite

• Stepping Stone

• Essex County Wellness Respite Services

• Middlesex County Wellness Respite Services

• Passaic County Wellness Respite Services

• Dutchess Rose House

• Orange/Ulster County Rose House

• Putnam Rose House

• Warren Washington Rose House

• Eagles Nest Respite House

• Refreshing Waters Respite House

• Blair H. Clark Respite Center

• Foundations Peer Respite  Foundations A Place for Education & Recovery

• Reflections Whole Life Recovery Community

• Alyssum, Inc.

• Iris Place

• Solstice House

• Monarch House Peer Run Respite

Crisis Diversion Research

Crisis Diversion Research

The Crisis Diversion Research page features high-quality research studies on interventions that are not peer respites, but aim to divert individuals experiencing crisis from psychiatric emergency services. While not the focus of PeerRespite.net, these programs provide alternatives to inpatient and emergency departments.

Country
United States of America

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Peer Respite Directory

Peer Respite Directory

The Peer Respite Directory provides information about individual peer respites organized by state. The Directory also links to the programs’ own sites or social media to provide the user with a variety of resources. The Directory was last updated in 2018, so information may not be current.

Country
United States of America

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Peer Respite Essential Features Survey (PREF)

Peer Respite Essential Features Survey (PREF)

Peer Respite Essential Features Survey examine changes in peer respite operations, funding, staffing, and guest experience between 2014-2018. In 2018, the results are reported in two separate reports.

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United States of America

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Peer Respite Research

Peer Respite Research

The Peer Run Respite Research page contains a comprehensive list of all of the known and published research studies on peer respites in the United States. It is organized by study design, and restricted to research on interventions that fit the definition of a peer respite.

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United States of America

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The Guidebook for Peer Support Program Self-Evaluation

The Guidebook for Peer Support Program Self-Evaluation

The Guidebook for Peer Support Program Self-Evaluation: Practical Steps and Tools can be used to document program operations and outcomes, and to build evidence for the efficacy of peer support programs. This guidebook was created in response to frequent requests from peer-run organizations for practical, low-cost, or no-cost tools they could use to evaluate their programs.We have included recommendations on best practices in self-evaluation and data monitoring based on techniques used by other peer support organizations and in the world of program evaluation. It provides basic, practical guidance on developing a logic model, identifying outcomes, selecting measures/indicators, collecting and analyzing data, and reporting findings.

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United States of America

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Peer Support + provide materials created by people with a passion for what peer support in mental health can accomplish. You’ll find an introductory course to get to know the basics, as well as a toolkit that holds more in-depth and practical materials. 

• E-Learning
• Toolkit

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The Peer Support Resources website was created as a way to share resources with those interested in understanding, implementing or working in peer-to-peer support roles (particularly those that exist within mental health services and/or that are intended for individuals who are or have experienced trauma, emotional distress, psychiatric diagnosis and other significant life challenges).

This website was created as a way to share resources with those interested in understanding, implementing or working in peer-to-peer support roles (particularly those that exist within mental health services and/or that are intended for individuals who are or have experienced trauma, emotional distress, psychiatric diagnosis and other significant life challenges).  We hope that this site will keep growing over time and we look to YOU to help us do that with your questions, suggestions and any tools and resources you may want to offer

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Country: United States of America

Email: info@psresources.info

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Resources to help physicians understand, provide and access peer support, and to create effective peer support programs in their workplaces. 

• Alberta Medical Association’s Physician and Family Support Program: The Physician and Family Support Program (PFSP) provides 24/7 confidential support for Alberta’s physicians, residents and medical students, as well as their immediate family members.

• Local Peer Support Programs: Local Peer Support Programs offer confidential, non-clinical, emotional support to physicians facing a range of work and life-related challenges. These programs are tailored to the specific needs of each physician community, and delivered by trained Peer Supporters who are fellow physicians, offering a unique understanding of the stresses and pressures faced by those in medicine.

• Doc360 Physician Health Programs: Doctors Manitoba provides evidence-based peer support options for physicians, resident physicians, and medical learners experiencing challenges in their personal or professional lives.

• Peer Support Program: The New Brunswick Medical Society (NBMS) offers a province-wide peer support program, connecting The Peer Support Program Opens in a new window was created to connect New Brunswick physicians (including residents and medical learners) seeking support with trained volunteer physicians. Program participation and all information disclosed remains completely confidential.

• Peer support: Direct, 1:1 physician peer support is offered on an ongoing basis, and a virtual physician peer support group is offered every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month. Whether you’re dealing with a complaint, a negative clinical outcome, workload stress, or any other challenge, you’ll receive confidential support from a physician experienced in supporting colleagues.

• Professional Support Program: Doctors Nova Scotia’s Professional Support Program (PSP) provides confidential peer-to-peer support for members and their families who are dealing with personal or professional problems.

• Physician and Family Support Program: Northwest Territories Medical Association members have access to the Alberta Medical Association’s (AMA) Physician and Family Support Program (PFSP). This program provides 24/7 confidential support and help with personal health issues.

• Doctors Lounge Online: The virtual Doctors Drop-In Group provides an online meeting place for the same exchange of support and encouragement, where you can meet with others with similar backgrounds and life experiences.

• Peer-to-Peer program: Peer-to-Peer (P2P) is a structured peer support program, which aims to be a driver of cultural change in the medical community on Prince Edward Island, by providing colleagues with opportunities to connect, share challenges, express gratitude, and develop coping strategies together.

• Quebec Physicians’ Health Program: The Quebec Physicians’ Health Program (QPHP) is a peer support program, offering practical support to physicians in a receptive, respectful, and psychologically safe environment.

• Physician Health Program: The Physician Health Program (PHP) provides assistance to physicians, medical learners, and their families who are struggling. The program provides assessment and treatment, education, counselling and coaching, monitoring, and advocacy to help physicians continue in effective medical practice.

• Member and Benefit Programs: The Yukon Medical Association offers several wellness resources to members, such as mentorship support and counselling services.

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Address: 1410 Blair Towers Place Suite 500 Ottawa ON K1J 9B9

Country: Canada

Call 888-855-2555

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Peers for Progress is to accelerate the availability of best practices in peer support around the world.  Peers for Progress is designed to demonstrate the value of peer support, extend the evidence base for such interventions, help establish peer support as an accepted, core component of health care, and promote peer support programs and networks around the world.

Peers for Progress promotes peer support as a key part of health, health care, and prevention around the world. The mission of Peers for Progress is to accelerate the availability of best practices in peer support. Peers for Progress is designed to demonstrate the value of peer support, extend the evidence base for such interventions, help establish peer support as an accepted, core component of health care, and promote peer support programs and networks on a global scale. To accomplish its goals, Peers for Progress began by addressing the growing, global diabetes epidemic through a variety of activities including Evaluation and Demonstration Grants that will build and apply the evidence base for peer support in diabetes. Other activities include promoting peer support programs, developing a global network of peer support programs, and hosting a global webpage to circulate program materials and curricula.

Peers for Progress is continually expanding a global network of networks of peer support organizations to address the needs of various chronic diseases, health risks and other conditions that require ongoing health care and sustained behavior change, including but not limited to heart diseases, and mental health challenges and illness. If you are interested in using peer support or have been involved with a peer support program, we encourage you to connect with colleagues in other peer support initiatives by joining the Peers for Progress network.

Peers for Progress is building a Global Network of Peer Support Organizations and invites you to join us in this global endeavor. By joining, you help expand this global network. Together, we can demonstrate the value of peer support, extend what we know about its contributions to health promotion and disease management, and promote peer support as a core component of helping people lead healthy lives around the world.

Learn About Peer Support

Learn About Peer Support

Peer support refers to practical, social, emotional, ongoing support from a person who shares similar experiences with a disease or health problem.  Peer support is a powerful and affordable tool for facilitating the kind of knowledge, skills, encouragement, and linkages to resources that people need to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors.

Ongoing support is a key factor in managing health. Even if individuals spend as much as 6 hours a year in a clinic or health professional’s office, that leaves them 8,760 hours they are “on your own” to manage their diet, physical activity, medications, stress, and other factors. Peer support provides assistance with these daily management tasks, social and emotional support to stay motivated and deal with the stress chronic disease often brings, and helps people stay connected to clinical care.

• List of Publications and Presentations from 2009-2012.
• What is Peer Support?
• Science Behind Peer Support
• Examples of Peer Support
• Share Research

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Peer Support - Taking Action

Peer Support - Taking Action

Putting a peer support program into action involves a variety of key components including training, management and evaluation activities. Additionally, starting peer support programs may require substantial adaptation to existing programs.

• Program Development Guide
• Start a Program
• Train Peer Supporters
• Manage Peer Support
• Evaluate Peer Support
• Troubleshooting
• Adapt Peer Support

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Primary Care Resources

Primary Care Resources

Primary care plays a critical role in a patient’s overall health. ere you can find information and resources that can help primary care providers and practices promote and integrate peer support. The material is organized into the following sections:

• What is peer support?
• How does peer support enhance primary care?
• What can I do as a primary care provider to promote peer support?
• How can peer support be integrated with Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) ?
• What program examples and resources can help me promote and/or integrate peer support?

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Promote Peer Support

Promote Peer Support

Efforts to promote widespread adoption of peer support require top-down and bottom-up approaches; they also require within-country/region as well as global approaches to making the case for and spreading the work about peer support and its contributions to health, health care, and prevention. As more people and organizations understand the important role and benefits of peer support, together we can extend and build peer support into a routine part of health, health care, and prevention policies and systems. The following sections offer information and resources to identify and strengthen your role in promoting peer support:

• My Role In Promotion
• Advocacy Tool Kit
• Advocating & Planning
• Communicating Peer Support
• Troubleshooting
• Share Promotion Materials

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UNC-CH COVID Support

UNC-CH COVID Support

A leader in the field for over ten years, Peers for Progress has been working to facilitate availability of support and lessen isolation across the Department of Health Behavior as well as in other components of the Gillings School of Global Public Health and University. We hope the presentations, tools, and resources here will help secure the objective that nobody be without someone to whom to turn amidst the threats brought by the pandemic and that will surround us still for some time. The Carolina Peer Support Collaborative is a network of staff, students and faculty working to enhance mutual and peer support across campus in coping with COVID-19, facing racism and other challenges, enhancing mental health, and building a culture of caring and togetherness.

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Email: peersforprogress@unc.edu

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The Queering and Trans-forming Mad Studies group is a space to talk about, and share resources on, Mad Studies, Critical Mental Health Studies, and Dis/Ability Studies, as well as their intersections with critical discourse on gender/transgender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, religion, experiences of mental distress, neurodiversity, class, nationality, and colonisation.

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Recovery College Online provide a range of co-created, online educational courses and resources to people who might be struggling with their mental health, families, friends, mental health workers and anyone else who might be interested.

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Country: United Kingdom

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Support Groups Online is a website featuring over 200 different online support groups including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

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The Tapestry Project SG is an independent non-profit content platform that publishes first-hand narratives on mental health in Singapore. Their stories are written by persons-in-recovery, caregivers and healthcare professionals who wish to shed light on our mental health scene and inspire hope and empathy for those touched by mental health challenges.

Tapestry is a ground-up community mental health online publication that educates, empowers and connects with readers through personal stories. It is an independent social initiative + online publication that weaves together first-hand narratives, bridging the personal and professional, to establish a holistic understanding towards mental illness and recovery within Singapore's mental health landscape, through the power of story.

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Country: Singapore

Call 1800 221 4444

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The Tapestry Project is an online platform where people can share stories, their own personal struggles with mental health recovery. They encourage jotting down your thoughts, as it’s one way to let go of all negative feelings. You can even submit your own stories through Write for Tapestry. Its social enterprise re:story also holds writing workshops that act as journalling sessions, which create a safe space for participants to express their feelings. You’ll get a discount if you’re currently seeing a mental health specialist.

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Country: Singapore

Email: community@thetapestryproject.sg

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A UK-based website for young people who hear, see and sense things others don't. 

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Address: Voice Collective, Mind in Camden, Barnes House, 9-15 Camden Road, London, NW1 9LQ

Country: United Kingdom

Email: info@voicecollective.co.uk

Call 020 7911 0822

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the Youth Recovery and Wellbeing College is a community for young people aged 11-18 that live within Hull and the East Riding.

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Country: United Kingdom

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