Hear from our peer support workers

Case study: Claudia

Claudia has enjoyed a varied career with CPFT, since she joined the organisation in 2010.

She is currently a trainee therapist and is studying a Post-graduate Diploma in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) to become a fully qualified therapist.

However, she previously worked in the private sector for many years, while also volunteering with the Samaritans. She eventually decided on a change in direction and was among the first to join the Trust’s fledgling peer support worker programme.

She ended up working for both the Personality Disorder Community Service and CAMEO (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Assessing, Managing and Enhancing Outcomes), while studying for a psychology degree in her own time.

Two years later she secured a support worker role with CAMEO, but never one to rest on her laurels, was accepted onto a four year, work based mental health nurse degree, funded by the Trust.

She also somehow found time to help set up the Recover Coach Team, but when she qualified in 2016, she joined the Relational, Emotional Difficulties Service (REDS) full time, which was set up to make DBT more accessible.

Claudia said: “I had my own mental health challenges many years ago and I wanted to give something back and walk alongside people experiencing their own challenges. The benefits of mutual understanding never fail to amaze me, which lies at the heart of peer support and therapy.

“Having peer support in clinical teams helps to keep everyone authentic and honest, and although I haven’t been a peer support worker for some time, keeping hold of those roots is important to me.

“You must be in the right place to start the journey I’ve been on, but I’ve had so many amazing opportunities since I joined the Trust. I think I’ve finally found my true calling as a therapist and I’m incredibly grateful.”

 

Case study: Matt

Now in his mid-forties, Matt joined the NHS later in life.

He is an STR (Support, Time and Recovery) Worker with the Fenland Adult Locality Team, but he joined the army when he was 21 years old, before becoming an Area Manager for a cleaning and security company, responsible for more than fifty stores and around 1000 staff.

He has also experienced more than his fair share of significant mental and physical health challenges over the years, which eventually led to the change in career. He says the help he received from RCE Wellbeing Hub during this time saved his life and helped to change his mindset. So much so, that he decided to work for the NHS and become a major advocate of peer support.

He joined the Trust’s Primary Care Mental Health Service (PCMHS) in 2017 as a Peer Support Worker, following the 12 week training programme, later becoming a Senior Peer Support Worker.

He said: “I like helping people that feel they are lost like I did and there are lots of similarities between peer support and my current STR role. We focus on recovery, not a diagnosis or a label. I was a challenge, so I love helping people who display what others might call challenging behaviour. There is usually an underlying reason and it’s important to understand what that is.

“Peer support aims to avoid the stigma of a diagnosis or a label. It focuses on recovery by giving people the tools to overcome their challenges. The aim is to encourage people to change their way of thinking and take back control of their lives.”

 

Case study: Hayley

Nine years after joining CPFT, Hayley has recently become a qualified social worker.

Following Peer Support Worker roles with the Recovery Coach Team and the Primary Care Mental Health Team, she says that despite loving her job she knew it was time to move on.

It is a far cry from 2014 when she was suffering from significant mental health problems and admits that she was not in a good place. She was a regular visitor to the Cavell Centre in Peterborough during this time and it was there that she was first introduced to peer support worker training.

Hayley said: “I’d never heard of peer support, but I went to an open day to learn more about it. I decided to apply and got a place on the course. I explained I hadn’t been able to work for some time because of my mental health, but I was able to work part time at first.

“It was great to use my lived experience to help people recover. Peer support is holistic. We help people set realistic goals, but more than anything you need to listen.”

Hayley says she has sometimes felt like she could have done more to help people and feels better placed to do that as a social worker.

She said: “I started a social work degree continuing to work three days a week at the Trust, one day attending University, and one day study. I also completed two placements with adult social care in Peterborough and the Early Years Service in Wisbech, which I really enjoyed.

“The Primary Care Mental Health Team have been so supportive. They helped me to tailor my caseload during my studies and I’m really looking forward being a social worker.”

 

Case study: James

James says his lived experience of mental health challenges has enabled him to better connect with people in his role as a Peer Support Worker.

As a more recent recruit to the Trust, he has spent most of the last 12 months as a Rotational Peer Support Worker with several teams to gain experience and learn how peer support is provided in different clinical settings. He has now secured a full time post with the RCE Wellbeing Hub.

He said: “I’ve had mental health challenges for most of my life and my twenties were 
especially chaotic. I’m from a Forces family, so we moved every few years, and I had a difficult relationship with my parents.”

James did however start to get the help he needed to begin his recovery, both from the NHS and charities The Richmond Fellowship and MIND and as he approaches his mid-thirties, he says he is in a much better place.

Two years ago he decided to apply to the Trust’s Peer Support Worker Programme.

He explained: “I’ve had a lot of support over the years including peer support, and I wanted to give something back. I like that I can share my recovery journey with people, so they can see that they can also recover.

“It’s great to help others with what I’ve learned along the way, and I learn from them as well. Becoming a peer support worker is the realisation of a long held ambition, and I love seeing people make changes and improve with my help.”

In the longer term, James hopes to work in music therapy after enjoying a placement with the occupational health team at the Cavell Centre.

 

Case study: Roni

Roni has been a Senior Peer Support Worker with the Trust for the last two years and has ambitions to become a social worker.

Her passion for the role comes from her own mental health struggles and the support she received from a peer support worker.

She said: “I’d experienced mental health problems for many years and move around a lot, so I never really had consistent support. However, when I moved to Ely I started to receive better coordinated care, including my own peer support worker.

“I also attended group counselling sessions. I found them scary and was suffering from panic attacks, but my peer support worker encouraged me to stay. They celebrated what seemed to me even minor successes, but their enthusiasm caught on and with their help I became more confident. I started attending every session and even looked forward to going.”

A keen amateur photographer, such was her improved confidence when the group sessions ended, she decided to do a photography course. At first her peer support worker went with her to the classes, but she then attended on her own.

It was at this time that it was suggested that she might consider becoming a peer support worker. She applied for the course run by CPFT but was unsuccessful. Undeterred, she was encouraged to apply the following year and got through.

Roni explained: “I love my job because I can openly share my story to help others. It is heartwarming to see someone grow beside you and realise that they don’t need you anymore. Mental health problems can shake you, but I can open a door for them they didn’t know existed.”