Peer Support is growing in mental health care. With peer support, someone who has navigated their own mental health challenges becomes a peer to someone experiencing similar difficulties. Many states now even have certification programs for ‘people with lived experience’.
Intentional Peer Support (IPS) was created by Shery Mead and starts by asking “What Happened” instead of “What’s Wrong”. Much like Open Dialogue, they do away with the Doctor / Patient hierarchy and invite both parties to learn and grow together rather than having one person needing to ‘help’ another.
Steven Morgan, a person with lived experience, found IPS to be a framework that resonated strongly with him and his experience. He now travels the world giving workshops and spreading the word about this relational approach.
IPS, along with Open Dialogue out of Northern Finland, are the methods that have influenced the three year country wide clinical trial in the UK we discussed in our previous blog. It is great to see the increase acceptance and recognition that Peer Support is receiving.
