The Peer Support Program provides an opportunity for people who have received mental health care to call upon their experience to provide relevant goal-based support to youth, adults and older adults who have serious and/or persistent mental health/substance use challenges.
Peer Support Workers are individuals with lived experience of mental illness/substance use who have graduated from a Peer Support Worker Training Program. These individuals work on a contracted basis under the supervision of Rehabilitation staff with clients who access Vancouver Mental Health and Substance Use programs and services , providing support to achieve personal goals, learn new skills, and link with community resources. The peer support relationship typically lasts until the established goals of the relationship are achieved. This varies from weeks to months.
Peer Support Worker Training is provided through Vancouver Mental Health and Substance Use and other organizations such as Coast Mental Health. Peer support workers receive classroom and practical training. Areas of learning include roles and responsibilities, communication, boundaries, strengths-based approach/psychosocial rehabilitation principles, trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing, and confidentiality.
Access to receive peer support is through referral from a staff member on the mental health team or unit where a client is receiving services. To request a peer support worker, please ask your health care provider.
For information about becoming a Peer Support Worker and training, please call 604-708-5276 or email ronald.carten@vch.ca.
Join us as we explore strategies to help cope with uncertainty and manage stress. Led by peer facilitators and developed during the pandemic, this 4-session course looks at stress, worry, anxiety, and common thinking traps that can affect our mental wellbeing.
Building Recovery of Individual Dreams and Goals through Education and Support (BRIDGES) is a 10 week group that offers education and support to people with lived experience and is based on the belief that those of us living with a mental illness can recover.
In this 1.5-hour workshop, we learn how to communicate more effectively with our doctor(s) and other health care providers.
WOW is a supportive environment where people who have taken a WRAP workshop can meet new people and find support with other WRAP participants.
The program offers five free interactive weekly sessions, each two hours long, and all facilitated by people in recovery who can give you valuable information that will help you on your recovery journey. You’ll also learn how to find peer support and build new life skills.