What is peer support?

Peer support is an aspect of patient care that connects patients with mentors who have survived similar life-changing experiences. Formal education and professional training only go so far in helping mental health professionals understand what patients are going through; a peer support specialist can fill that gap since they have the first-hand experience that aligns with the patient’s reality—surviving addiction or abuse, for instance, or coping with mental health disorders. A peer support specialist’s responsibilities are to be a compassionate mentor and to guide patients through their struggles with a perspective based on shared histories.