Peer Support Improves Mental Health
Peer support programs can be loosely defined as any activity that encourages interactions among individuals who have similar experiences. Peer support examples can be as simple as a peer support group that meets to discuss important recovery topics. Others may be more akin to peer support mentorship programs where peer workers who have entered recovery share their personal experiences, recovery tools, and more.
While relationships with treatment professionals like counselors, therapists, and physicians are important, peer support is a critical component of recovery and mental health treatment.1
Peer support is particularly important for those who have been subject to rounds of addictive pharmaceutical medications from a doctor they once trusted. If someone finds themselves unable to trust the very profession they once relied on to find healing, they may be initially unable to trust those in charge of helping them recover. By contrast, peer support groups can build that sense of trust within a community of others who truly understand their struggles. Peer mentorship and support programs can not only help provide the tools necessary to remain in lasting recovery but provide living proof that recovery is possible.2
The Value of Peer Support During Recovery
A compendium of research demonstrates that without a strong support system, people with a substance use disorder are more likely to relapse. Others who have developed relationships with their peers and developed a peer support network have improved chances of staying in recovery.3 Long-term healing, whether from environmentally-derived neurotoxins, pharmaceutical drugs, or even mental health symptoms, and a return to happiness are only possible if the patient has people they can connect to, grow with, and rely on in times of struggle. Participation in peer support activities is a key indicator of successful recovery, which is why we at Alternative to Meds Center are so proud of our robust peer support system.4
Staying isolated and alone during early recovery means people are more likely to feel isolated and alone with their problems after treatment concludes. However, when multiple persons are facing similar challenges, there is a bonding and an alliance that develops. Instead of feeling as if they are about to traverse the significant hurdles of mental health conditions, medication tapering, and recovery of health alone, they’ll be working with others who understand exactly what they’re going through. As a result, they may be more willing to share experiences, confront past traumas, or even simply listen to understand that they are not the only ones facing challenges.
Inpatient Peer Support Programs: Helping Others Helps Oneself
Whether it takes the form of peer groups or peer mentorship, peer support work isn’t just about being helped but about learning to help others in the same way.In fact, research suggests that peer support is just as helpful to the person providing the support as it is to the person receiving it.
Helping another person provides a feeling of accomplishment and a connection with others that enables both to put therapy strategies to good use and encourages deeper emotional bonds.5 This is a critical reason peer support programs are so important. Not only do they ensure that each person is given the social network they need to thrive, but it encourages people to help each other as well as the rest of their community. It reinforces the idea of the support network as a reliable, trusted group that can be counted on when necessary. This network is something people seeking treatment often lack.
Benefits of Peer Support for Recovery
Peer support can benefit all people in recovery in a number of ways, including:
- Builds trust
- Provides perspective
- Encourages personal empowerment
- Provides the shared experience of hope
- Applying healthy principles of recovery in real time
- Introduces effective recovery tools
Builds Trust
As mentioned, individuals who feel betrayed by physicians who prescribed them addictive medications may have trouble trusting physicians and other treatment providers. By building a community of peers or working with peer mentors, these individuals can begin to build a trusting relationship with an individual who can view recovery from their perspective.6
Provides Perspective
The newly recovering individual can also be supported by being around others who have faced similar challenges, thereby providing perspective on the process. Seeing what the issue looks like from the other side can be eye-opening, and it can allow them to get a better sense of what they, themselves, are experiencing.
Empowers
Peer support can help people receiving inpatient treatment develop a sense of community that may have been missing during times of crisis, which can often be quite isolating. Feeling a part of a community can provide a much-needed sense of support and empowerment.
Provides Hope
While attending counseling sessions, participating in adjunctive therapies, and more are critical components of treatment,it is equally important to learn from others. Experiencing support from peer mentors and peer groups enables people to witness the struggles and triumphs of others in their situation. Through their success, others can gain hope that they can achieve the same.
Demonstrates Healthy Principles of Recovery
Principles like self-awareness, compassion, mindfulness, and courage, as well as a willingness to learn new things and develop new skills, are critical components of recovery. Peer support not only provides a range of examples from others on the same path but also gives people the opportunity to put them into practice themselves.
Develops Recovery Tools
The recovery tools introduced during professional counseling sessions and even peer support groups, including creating healthy routines, practicing mindfulness, improving nutrition, and more, are reinforced by peer support programs. Individuals can see these tools at work in others and learn how to — utilize them when they return back home.
Integrative Peer Support for Medication Recovery in Sedona, Arizona
An effective peer support program should extend beyond group therapy sessions and bonding exercises. The facility staff is an essential part of the support system, and with honesty and empathy, we can prove to be peers ourselves. That’s why we’re willing to be honest about our own personal struggles and our relationship with the very treatments we employ.
With our deep understanding of the orthomolecular principles useful in recovery, physical health, and improving mental health, and the ways these are interrelated, Alternative to Meds Center is committed to holistic therapies and research-backed interventions. To get started on finding an inpatient program that suits your needs or to learn more about holistic recovery and what is available for your healing journey at Alternative to Meds Center, contact us.