(Pictured above: Past and Present Members of the Youth Mentor Team)
Lived Experience:
Formalised Peer Support is provided by the Youth Mentors at the YWC!
Youth Mentors have lived experience with the Mental Health System and will use this to provide hope, self-determination, effective coping skills and self-care strategies. They are a low barrier access to a supportive mentor who can listen and support your needs.
Core Values of Peer Support:
-Hope and Recovery
-Self-Determination
-Integrity, Authenticity and Trust
-Lifelong Learning and Personal Growth
-Empathetic and Equal Relationships
-Health and Wellness
Youth Mentors can support youth to:
-Make sense of their mental health experience
-Find language to describe their reality
-Have brave and Vulnerable conversations
-Share stories and learn from each other
-Recognize and celebrate strengths
-Discuss Stigma (and internalized stigma)
-Develop survival strategies and coping skills
-Build hope and imagine a future
-Explore values and sense of identity
-Identify goals and steps towards recovery