Cause for Conversation is a new mental health podcast from Solent Mind. In our first episode, we talk to Becky Hawke and Dr Katt Petersen about how peer support is helping people feel validated and supported, giving them tools and resilience through sharing lived experiences.
At Solent Mind, we understand the value of connection and shared experiences in mental health recovery. Our latest podcast episode of Cause for Conversation dives deep into the transformative power of peer support. Featuring insights from Senior Workplace Wellbeing Trainer, Becky Hawke, and Dr Katt Petersen, Peer Support Specialist at NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, this first episode sheds light on how peer support can create a mutually beneficial relationship of resilience, validation, and hope.
If you’re curious about how peer support works and how it’s different from clinical therapies, read on—and don’t forget to tune into the full episode!
Becky volunteered as a peer supporter and now trains her Solent Mind colleagues and other professionals as part of our Workplace Wellbeing Training team.
As she explains in this episode, peer support thrives on the principle of shared experience: “You can’t be a peer supporter unless you’ve walked a mile in those shoes.”
Peer supporters like Becky and Katt use their lived experience of mental health challenges to offer empathetic, non-judgemental guidance. They describe it as walking alongside someone on their recovery journey rather than trying to ‘fix’ them.
Katt added:
"We’re not therapists; we’re experts by experience. It's all about showing that the person (or those people), that they're not alone in their struggles and providing them hope that they can develop healthy coping strategies that work for them based on their own strengths, just as we have in our own mental health journeys."
At Solent Mind, our award-winning peer support approach is embedded in our services across Hampshire.
This can include:
Speaking about her one-to-ones as part of the NHS Talking Therapies Peer support service, Katt said:
"One client told us it was so refreshing to ‘get things off my chest without someone trying to diagnose or therapise me.’ That sense of connection is sometimes exactly what people need most."
> Find a peer support service near you
One of the standout features of peer support is how it is flexible and adaptable. Becky emphasised that it’s deeply person-centred: “Peer support operates in the grey areas, allowing us to adapt to each individual’s unique needs.”
Unlike more structured clinical therapies, peer support offers a softer start for those starting their recovery journey. Katt talked about how peer support gives people a way to practice opening up and start having conversations about their mental health.
Katt also shared feedback from her service users which has been overwhelmingly positive, with words like ‘validating,’ ‘understanding,’ and ‘reliable’ coming up regularly. We also discussed how peer support can be particularly helpful for those facing stigma - whether that’s due to age, disability, or cultural background - offering people a safe space to open up, without the fear of being judged or not fully heard.
If you’re thinking about engaging with a peer support service, Katt and Becky’s advice was to come in with an open mind and speak up about your needs. Katt explained how what you need peer support might change over time, and that’s okay:
“We’re not here to tell you what’s wrong or what to do. It’s a dialogue, a collaboration, and it’s led by you.”
> Find a peer support service near you
Becky shared how our peer support training brings together lived experience and feedback from both peer supporters and service users. Becky is passionate advocate for making adjustments to ensure that the training environment is inclusive and person-centred and explained how this is a vital part of her peer support training sessions:
“Differences should be celebrated. In a way to ‘make something accessible’ implies, or it could potentially imply, that there is a deficit with the person who is finding it inaccessible, and that is not the case.
She added: “If there's anything that we can do to tailor the learning environment to make it better for people then I believe passionately that we should be doing that.”
Both Becky and Katt talked about how recovery is not a straight path, but they agreed that peer support can act as a gentle stepping stone, giving people the confidence and tools to start engaging with mental health support in a way that works for them.
As Katt puts it:
“Recovery looks different for everyone. We're never going to expect you to go in the same direction. What recovery is, is a place where you can thrive, and everybody thrives under different conditions.”
Tune in to the full episode to hear more from Becky and Katt about the power of peer support.
Subscribe now on your favourite podcast platform and stay tuned for our special World Bipolar Day episode, coming soon.
Let us know in the comments: How has peer support impacted your journey? Share your thoughts and join the conversation!
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