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Embodying Recovery: A Qualitative Study of Peer Work in a Consumer-Run Service Setting

Community Mental Health Journal volume 50, pages 879–885 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

The use of peer support for persons with mental illness has been gaining force. While research has demonstrated the benefits of peer support, few studies have investigated the qualitative characteristics of how peer support aids persons recovering from mental illness. Therefore, this study sought to clarify the characteristics that constitute peer support and its contribution to recovery. We conducted ethnographic fieldwork and semi-structured interviews with nine peer advocates at a consumer-run organization in New York City, and identified three themes that describe how peer support influences recovery: transforming experience into expertise, understanding the mechanics of peer support, and launching peers towards their own recovery. Peer support plays a critical role in helping clients move beyond their patient role to an empowered sense of personhood. Additionally, the value of peer support highlights current deficiencies within the mental health system and how a bolder shift towards recovery might repair them.

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Notes

  1. All subjects were given pseudonyms for this publication.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Center for the Study of Issues in Public Mental Health, funded by a Grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health (P20-MH078188).

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Elizabeth Austin

  2. Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Aditi Ramakrishnan

  3. Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA

    Kim Hopper

Authors
  1. Elizabeth Austin
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  2. Aditi Ramakrishnan
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  3. Kim Hopper
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Correspondence to Elizabeth Austin.

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Austin, E., Ramakrishnan, A. & Hopper, K. Embodying Recovery: A Qualitative Study of Peer Work in a Consumer-Run Service Setting. Community Ment Health J 50, 879–885 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-014-9693-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-014-9693-z

Keywords

  • Peers
  • Peer support
  • Recovery
  • Agency