Peer2Peer is a 6 week personal development course, developed by Scottish Recovery Network and adapted for Flourish members. It was facilitated by Ash from Stepping Stones in Woodside Library, just a 10 min walk from Flourish.
Peer2Peer enables members to use their lived experience of mental health to help others and empowers them to recognise and apply their unique personal strengths and skills developed in their recovery journey. Members are given the opportunity to create their own recovery narrative to ignite a sense of agency and are supported in recognising their own resilience through lived experience of mental illness, through a guided process of personal development. A warm, safe space was achieved by everyone there and there was group discussions, tea and biccies.
We asked a few of our members who participated what they thought of the course:
Could you give me an overview of what Peer to Peer is?
A: Finding solutions to long term psychiatric problems through people who have lived experience, people who are not professionals.
K: Looking at how my physical and mental wellbeing relates to my daily life
What does a session look like?
A: The facilitator Ash would go through a series of topics like boundaries and then go through some case examples and we would all discuss it. Sometimes it would be a group discussion and sometimes 1-1.
K: It was broken down into 3 or 4 small sections with a summary at the end – for example, in one session we discussed boundaries.
Did you enjoy it?
A: I like talking so it was a good opportunity for me to talk! I enjoyed discovering how I could relate to other people. The course could be very intense at times.
K: I did enjoy it – initially it felt quite formal but it was good getting to break it down and have a good chat about the different sections.
What did you get out of the session? Did you find it helpful, interesting, etc?
A: I got to know people I hitherto did not know and deepened relationships with other members.
K: There was lots to learn from each session and development of ideas throughout. I found it enlightening.
What would you say to anyone who is thinking of doing the next Peer to Peer course but is unsure about it?
A: The only way to discover what it is like is just to do it, or at least to try it. You don’t have to attend every session, you can leave if you want to. It’s like trying to describe the taste of strawberries to someone who hasn’t had them. You just have to take action – try the strawberry.
K: When I was initially looking at the course it felt quite formal until I got into it and read up on it. People shouldn’t be put off by that. I really enjoyed reading and discussing with the group.