A peer supporter's perspective…

"My experience with peer support, while differing from person-to-person, has overall encompassed a unique form of raw self-expression within an exchange between two or more people. It has taught me that both myself and the peer sitting with me are both humans going through a lifetime of experiences that have shaped and continue to shape their sense of reality and current state of being/thought. Peer support holds space for hope, healing, validation, and so many more “good” things…but it also holds space for boundaries, intentional curiosity, discomfort, and “big” feelings; all of which can feel less than good sometimes. At the end of the day, my experience with peer support has allowed me to meet people in all walks of life and from each person I have learned something new- about myself, a stranger, a topic, a way of life. It is always expansive and there is hardly a greater gift than being able to sit with, hold space for, support, and cheer on a peer."

-Sammie, Peer Supporter at Monarch House and Kaleidoscope Center