As a grantmaking foundation, the Hogg Foundation is privy to a world of rich conversations about mental health, a world that we are often unable to do justice to in the course of everyday business. Sometimes, however, an opportunity presents itself for us to mine our relationships for the kind of storytelling that our usual communications — a blog post here, a press release there — only give a nod to. Such was the case with last December’s Alternatives conference, which inspired me to write an article about the growing field of certified peer specialists in mental health. The finished article, “Peer Support, Peer Problems,” was eventually published by Psych Central, one of the largest mental health resource sites on the web. An excerpt:
The therapeutic relationship is necessarily a test of the ability to maintain strict boundaries in an emotionally charged setting. But for peer specialists — individuals with lived experience of mental illness who have trained to use their recovery story to help others — the personal stakes can feel much higher.
Go read the entire article! Any feedback is appreciated.