by Jim Hajny, Executive Director
November 28, 2023
Over the years MPN has led several pilot projects where we provide peer support to a particular population or in a particular community. We collect data directly from the participants through small surveys after every peer support encounter. The survey is anonymous and is offered to the individuals who are receiving the services. We ask a limited number of questions to not be burdensome but not too few to be incomplete. Data collect drives the pilot project and assists us in creating the model for peer support in crisis teams, family settings, support groups, etc. We have been doing this for more than ten years. In every one of the pilot projects the data says the same thing. Emotional support is the number one benefit. Yes, other boxes get checked but emotional support is consistently the most common. In our recent Family Peer Support Project 77% of the peer support encounters were for emotional support while second was social support at 23%.
Resources are great and they definitely benefit those we support, but emotional support is the greatest need. The behavioral health system is not set up to support individuals or families. It is designed in 15 minutes increments with lots of check boxes and dollar signs. I not sure how this came to be. The emotional support of clients is not at the top of the list of priorities. This is where peer supporters come in. Being present with someone, listening to their story, validating their feelings is emotional support. And it is enough.
A common question I am asked by new behavioral health provider is, “What do the peer supporters do?” I have answered this question many times over. I explain the scope of practice including the highlights such as 1 to 1’s, goal setting, wellness, and recovery planning, but I like to emphasize, the act of “being there” for someone in need. Being present is invaluable. Engaging and connect before ever getting to supporting. I go onto explain this is what sets peer support apart form other professions. We understand because we have been there. We have been through it. I sometimes get puzzled looks from providers. Because this isn’t task oriented. They don’t have that “lived experience” and peer support isn’t a check box in the EMR. This is about human connection. Desensitizing happens in all types of medical care or crisis work the world over. There is a great article on this topic Natasha Abadilla, Standford School of Medicine entitled, The problematic process of desensitization in medical training, (2018). She states, “We gain a greater understanding of disease processes as we progress in our training, though, and the additional knowledge of why our patients feel pain and how they may experience even more pain sets the level of grief so much higher then before. So, we begin the process of desensitization, as a form of self-protection.”
As peer supporters how do we guard against desensitization? I believe we have a natural immunity to it because of our recovery journey. We understand the “pain” because of what we went through, what we overcame to be a peer supporter. We do this work not simply because we want to help people like other professions. There is a difference in those two positions. The engagement and connection with a peer is the fuel that drives the passion to do this work. We don’t need a degree or medical school to be an effective peer supporter. We do need lived experience and through that lived experience we find emotions. The ups and the downs. Having another person who has also felt those intense emotions sitting in front of you or on the phone listening, validating and sharing their experience without trying to fix, is emotional support and it is enough.