Core Purposes of Mental Health Peer Work: Empowerment, Stigma Reduction, Relational Safety and Walking Alongside People.

Abstract

Background: Mental health peer work harnesses personal experience of distress and recovery to support others. While growing evidence highlights its benefits, little is known about how individual narratives map onto core peer work functions in everyday practice.

Aim: To present an autoethnographic narrative that embodies four fundamental purposes of mental health peer work-empowerment, stigma reduction, relational safety and walking alongside-in a manner that is instructive to mental health nurses who have peer workers as colleagues.

Approach: Drawing on my lived experience-from a year of my childhood in France to severe illness as a university student, through diverse roles culminating in peer work-I use illustrative client vignettes to show how shared experience fosters connection and recovery.

Findings: (1) Empowerment: Gentle, consistent support enabled a woman with complex trauma to participate in art shows. (2) Stigma reduction: Normalising lithium use helped a young man face bipolar disorder treatment with confidence. (3) Relational safety: Incorporating client-led rituals (e.g., tarot readings) built the trust needed for deeper conversations. (4) Walking alongside: Presence and honest advocacy offered meaning to a man grappling with poverty and despair.

Conclusion: Lived experience is a unique resource that enriches mental health teams. Sharing peer principles with mental health clinicians can facilitate the process of integrating peer workers into mental health teams.