Ask us anything about Peer Support Work

[Shaz51]

Hello @Talzy_T , being a community guide is good and it open up doors if you want to do more in the future 

@Former-Member , @Daisydreamer , @tyme , seems a good new  thread to ask community guides questions  too 

[MLE]

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Hi all,

I would love to be a peer worker or a consumer consultant. It appears QLD is a little slower than the other states in putting these positions in to public hospital settings. 

Does anyone have any updated information about this?

MLE

[Gwynn]

@Paperdaisy @Former-Member @hanami @tyme @Former-Member @Former-Member

How do you go about re-tooling your resume to pivot into peer support roles? What kinds of things are agencies looking for?

[Former-Member]

@Gwynn YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY PEER SUPPORT! I get so excited every time people want to know more. 

I think the main thing to remember is that the role is based on our lived experience, but there are some really great trainings which can help us to share our lived experience in a way which supports others. 

Some of those trainings include short trainings such as "Safe Storytelling" training and mental health first aid. 

But there are longer trainings too including Peer Support certificates/diplomas at TAFE or Intentional Peer Support training (usually based in the US, but online) 

I think at a more immediate level, we also have our community guides program where volunteers are supported in learning how to use peer-support on these forums.

Have you looked into any of these trainings before? 

Big love,

TuxedoCat

(Also, I just should note, this was my experience above and without knowing much about you, it obviously isn't super specific advice!)

[Gwynn]

Thanks @Former-Member for pointing out all those trainings! Would being in a short DBT course 'count' as a desirable training?

I've got my eye on a position that's being advertised currently (and my support coordinator says she'll be my referee!), so I was more thinking of 'what qualities would be generally desirable in peer work that I might have picked up elsewhere?'.

As an example, a long while ago, I helped my friend rewrite her resume for a funeral director position, and something I found surprising about the profession that I recommended she highlight in her resume was her fitness interests, as the job often entails being a stand-in pallbearer. 

[Former-Member]

ahhh yes I see. Makes total sense. I guess thinking about what you like about these forums might help. Like how do people support each other? 

What I've done in the past is look at the position description and it usually has some really concrete things the organisation looking for. And you can provide examples for them. And they don't have to be examples from work only. Maybe you have examples from supporting other people in your life or courses, like the DBT course. 

I think what's good to remember is that it's about connecting through relationships and experience, not necessarily providing counselling or therapy based on theories. 

And here is a good resource on the SANE website which links to some other resources

What do you think about this @Gwynn?

[Domo87]

Hi All,

This is my first time posting and first time coming across this forum and community. I just wanted to say I’m so glad I stumbled across this and what I loved about this is the supportive, positive vibes and the huge amount of productive advice in this particular field.

I’ve been in finance for most of my life and currently with a company for the last 10 years and I’m looking for a career change. Having been through some tough periods of my life and continuing to work through them likely for the rest of my life, I did some research into potential career aspirations and came across peer work and found myself naturally being drawn to this. 

Having dropped out of studies in the past, I have fears of re-engaging into studies and found myself trawling through whirlpool forums and seeking advice on studies to pursue and opinions of others in the same boat, but this forum has really made me feel at ease that this career is something I can really pursue. 

I’m aware that a cert iv in mental health peer studies will likely be a requirement to look into, however working full time and studying worries me. As much as I think it would be preferable studying full time on campus/on site, I think online would he best suited given my full time work arrangements.

Having looked through job descriptions for jobs online, a lot of jobs require experience and from a lot of readings it seems as though volunteer work is the go, however the comments below relating to becoming a community guide did peek my interest as I would be able to do that remotely. 

Would anyone be able to shed some light on how to become one? 

Reading this forum has opened my eyes to the different possibilities within peer work which is great so I just want to thank you all for sharing your questions and responses.

Any advice, thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance! 

[FloatingFeather]

Hi @Domo87,

Welcome to the forums! My name is FloatingFeather and I am one of the peer support workers at SANE. 

Your story is a little similar to mine - I have worked in the corporate sector for many years and felt like I wanted something different from my job. Yes, I wanted job where I got an income but I also wanted a job where I could help others as I have a lot of lived experience as a support person (a family member has a serious mental health issue). 

I found online learning was the best fit for me - it worked around my other job and my family life. I did subjects depending on what was going on in my life at the time. For example, if I had a lot going on in my personal life I did a subject a term but if life wasn't too hectic I did two subjects a term. 

If you are interested in this type of work I would encourage you to look for positions as a peer support worker. Two employment sites I found the most useful were www.seek.com.au and www.ethicaljobs.com.au.

Good luck with it all. I look forward to reading what other forum members think 🙂

Best wishes,

FloatingFeather 

[Domo87]

Hi @FloatingFeather,

Thanks for sharing your story and advice, it’s good to hear your experience and makes me feel at ease that online is an avenue I could pursue. 

Studying online, how did you manage the practice side of things for the course? Did you need to go to a campus or was that all online? Also I find with a lot of jobs online, experience/placements seem to be required. I have concerns if I could juggle it with my full time work commitments.

My mind at times can be a bit of a battlefield so I tend to put a lot of obstacles in my way such as “can I do this” or is “online going to be enough” or “will I be able to support my self doing this line of work”, “is this something I really want to do”

Having done studies and dropping out in the past, these kind of thoughts plague me at times, thinking is this something I really want to do? But I feel a strong conviction in this type of work, so I’m hoping to pursue this 🙂

Thanks and look forward to other peoples insights too.

Cheers

[Former-Member]

Hi @Domo87 this is so exciting ❤️ I'm also a peer support worker here at SANE.

Firstly, I definitely relate to your experiences of stopping study. I started sooo many different courses and degrees. I'm currently studying a Masters of Social Work online and find the online mode really helpful for me! We do a lot of role plays through video for practice and it's great. 

One thing you could do is just dip your toe into peer work by trying some shorter trainings. I researched some of the different skills or courses in the job ads and found that lots of them included options for which skills potential peer workers had. For example, some of the big ones are

• A certificate in peer work (like you've shared). This might be the longest commitment in training 
• Intentional Peer Support which is a shorter training (I think 5 days) and covering many of the skills. These can be run online and in person in different places. Maybe a have a google and see what you can find

But I also looked up shorter trainings around specific skills, so I could see if it felt like a good fit for me. Here are some I've been looking at lately

• There's this "Foundations fo Peer Work" training which is a 5 day course (online) 
• Mental health first aid
• ASIST suicide prevention
• Safe Storytelling (here is a link to the Mental Health Coordinating Council and their trainings, including others)

Having said all of this, every organisation is different and it depends on their position descriptions ect. so I can't guarantee that this does the trick.

Do any of the things I've shared here help with some of your worries? Is there anything standing out for you?

Welcome again,

TuxedoCat