Who Is a Peer Support Worker? Role, Certificate & Skills
A peer support worker is someone who uses their own lived experience of mental health challenges, or their experience of supporting someone through them, to help other people on their recovery journey. They aren't there to diagnose or treat anyone. They're there because they understand, from the inside, what it's like to go through it. In Australia, peer work is now a recognised part of the mental health workforce, with national guidelines and its own nationally recognised qualification. In this article, we'll look at who a peer support worker is, what they do, the skills the role needs, and how the certificate works. Who is a peer support worker? Peer support work is built on shared experience or sharing lived experience. The National Mental Health Commission describes the lived experience (peer) workforce as people who are employed to use their own experience of mental health issues, or of supporting someone through them, to understand and relate to others. The aim is to improve how people experience services and to support their recovery and wellbeing. You can read more in the Commission's national guidelines for the peer workforce. There are two main types of peer worker: Consumer peer workers have their own lived experience of mental health challenges and of using mental health services. Carer peer workers draw on their experience of supporting a family member or friend through mental health challenges. The same kind of work goes by a few different job titles, including peer support worker, peer specialist, peer navigator, peer recovery coach and peer advocate. The relationship also works differently from a typical clinical one. The national guidelines describe peer work as based on equality and give-and-take, where both people contribute from their own experience. One peer worker shared that supporting others through depression, which she had lived with herself, made her better at spotting symptoms and communicating with people. She enjoyed the work, but it also stirred up old feelings she thought were settled. Writing down her triggers and how to manage them helped her stay well. What does a peer support worker do? The day-to-day work depends on the service, but it usually includes: Listening and offering support without judgement Sharing parts of their own recovery story when it helps the other person, in a safe and purposeful way Helping people.
