The unique role of peer support and mentoring
Peer support groups give people the opportunity to develop understanding friendships that they can keep and use in everyday life, and not be dependent on services.
Peer support and mentoring can play a unique role in helping people overcome a range of barriers and move forward in life. We found several key ways, which we explore in more detail in the rest of this section.
- Credibility improves engagement
- Seeing someone with a similar background who has succeeded is motivating
- Having someone genuinely support you keeps you going
- True understanding is a gateway to personal development
- Having a sense of value and healthy relationship develops self-esteem
Credibility improves engagement
Many public services from Jobcentre Plus to Social Work can leave people with deeper problems with the impression that they are a number more than a person. They sense that the person speaking to them is coming from a “textbook” and that if they have college degrees they definitely won’t understand the client’s experience. With this lack of empathy, clients can feel they will be judged and they hold back information or do not attend appointments. Peer mentoring and support creates a whole different environment. It gives credibility to their self-transformation.
- “This is the first time I’ve wanted to be clean. It’s the way that it’s explained to you and people understand what you’re going through. I’ve never been in a group before with people with the same background.”
- “You know they won’t judge you, so it is easier to share your problems and talk about them with peers.”
- “If folk have already been through it, you can talk in the language you already know without having to be posh and polite.”
- “If you’re slipping, it’s helpful to have someone who’s been through it to see through you and know you’re lying. Just having someone humouring you is not helpful.”
- Knowing that the mentor or peers have been through or have experienced similar problems of their own, helps me understand my own, I trust that they are willing to share their experiences in order for me to explore mine. They understand my language; it does not feel so organised or clinical.”
Seeing someone with a similar background who has succeeded is motivating
- “Because you know mentors have been through what you have, it helps you to keep moving forward. They are someone to look up to and possibly set a path for you for follow.”
- “A mentor is the light at the end of the tunnel – they went through and are now on the other side.”
- “Seeing my peers’ progress helps me progress, listening to what other people are working on and gaining knowledge from, how they have solved problems.”
Having someone genuinely support you keeps you going
- “Having someone who you trust that you can talk to if you have a bad day at work gives you confidence to work.”
- “When you’re going through bad times, you can come to the group and get lots of support from people who have been through the same things or are going through the same things. A five minute conversation can take a lot off your shoulders.”
- “Knowing you will see people who will understand and support you gives you the motivation to come along regularly. This gets you back into a routine and develops life skills.”
True understanding is a gateway to personal development
Being understood validates who you really are and opens the door to also looking at your skills, talents, interests and potential.
- “A part of me was hidden before. Now everyone knows what I’m about, so I now I really enjoy helping people.”
- “We’re so alike, so it really gives you support knowing someone else has experienced it. It’s such a release to know that you’re not alone. I get a rational perspective and feedback that I needed.”
- “Mentors help you see the skills and talents that you already have.”
- “I learned about computers just after school but hadn’t used them in a long time. When we studied computers, it came back to me and I realised I had this skill.”
- “Having friendly people around gives you courage to try new things and also often results in tips for dealing with different stressful or practical situations.”
- “The thought of getting a job or even going to college is scary, but when there are three or four people talking and moving towards similar goals it helps to deal with those feelings, because it’s natural to have those feelings.”
- “Knowing that the mentor or my peers have been through or have experienced similar problems of their own helps me understand my own. In some respects, I feel trusted that they are willing to share their experiences in order for them to explore mine.”
Having a sense of value and healthy relationships develops self-esteem
Many people with deeper problems will have developed unhealthy relationships, either to hide their bad experiences and protect themselves, or because the people around them have treated them in an unhealthy way. Some clients feel they have been let down by everyone in their lives until they found the right support. Creating a respectful, open and trusting relationship within a mentoring relationship or with fellow clients in a peer group can be a huge step, to teach them how to get on with people and respect themselves. The boxed quote to the riht of the page shows what trust can mean to a client. The points below are from staff.
- By founding a relationship, mentoring allows the client to develop confidence and self-esteem
- It creates a sense of helping each other
- For the mentor, it can be the first time to not feel like a victim.
- The sense of mutuality can be pivotal in developing people’s self-esteem.
“I have had the opportunity to build trust back into my life for the first time in years. People are seeing the difference and are putting a little faith in me, and I am starting to trust other people. Not everyone is out for themselves.” – Client