Peer Support is  where you connect with someone who has lived experience of mental health distress or addiction. Today, Peer Support is a paid role held by Tangata Whai Ora who bring their lived experience into inpatient spaces. Peer Support workers are trained and supported to offer relational support that honours your mana and your choices. They are here to walk alongside you, share what has helped them, and hold space for your journey. At the same time, they help make sure services are informed by lived experience and remain accountable to the people they serve.

Peer Support is about real connection with someone who understands because they’ve lived it too. It began as a human rights movement, a movement led by people with lived experience demanding voice, choice, and upholding of fundamental human rights in mental health and addiction care. This movement said, “Nothing about us without us,” and it changed the way services are shaped in Aotearoa.