PeerZone: Peer led workshops in mental health and addiction

PeerZone is a peer-support and recovery education initiative with a solid evidence base that works to help people experiencing mental illness and addiction. It describes a series of three-hour peer-led workshops in mental health and addiction, where people explore recovery and whole of life wellbeing. The PeerZone office does not deliver workshops, but prepares and supports peer facilitators to deliver them. PeerZone is offered in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. It works on three levels for participants:

• It invites them to rebuild a more positive story of their lives.
• It offers tools for whole of life wellbeing.
• It creates a community of mutual support.

PeerZone works on three levels for services:

• It’s a service innovation for organisations that invest in it.
• It’s a practice tool and support structure for workers with lived experience who facilitate it.
• It’s a personal development opportunity for service users who participate in it.

Find at more, including the evidence supporting the program, at their website.