9 minute read

Peer practitioners are the living proof that you can experience mental health distress and still live a good life, says Mind peer practitioner Ashleigh Leventhal.

Ashleigh is the perfect person to talk about the impact peer support can have in mental health recovery – not only did support from peer practitioners change her life at a particularly vulnerable time but she is now a qualified peer practitioner herself, at the same service that made such a difference for her.

Ashleigh shared her story at a recent online mini research conference Mind held to discuss with its clinical partners its outcomes research for its sub-acute PARC (Prevention And Recovery Care) and SUSD (Step Up Step Down) services. 

By sharing her own experiences as a service user and peer practitioner, Ashleigh provided the event with a valuable grounding in lived experience. Her reflections on what it was about peer support that had had the most impact on her were particularly valuable.

Ashleigh accessed support at Kwelena, a Step Up Step Down service in Perth in 2019, in what she described as a pivotal moment in her life. “I was a young carer growing up and I experienced quite a bit of childhood trauma. I’d been accessing clinical support since I was seven but this was my first experience of a community mental health service.”

Ashleigh said by the time she went to Kwelena she had really lost hope that things could get better for her.

“When I came in for my assessment I was visibly shaking and crying. I was really scared I was going to be stigmatised and kind of expecting it to be reminiscent of my prior hospital stays, during which I felt pretty disempowered. I had really pathologised my trauma with an ever-growing list of diagnoses,” Ashleigh said.

“But from the minute I sat down with Sue, my clinical nurse, and our lead practitioner, I knew it was going to be different and better. Sue looked at me and said, Ash, we don’t put people in boxes here – we want to hear your story. I can’t explain how much of a difference those words made for me in my need for safety.”

Ash said the realisation that the entire service was structured to put her in the driver’s seat of her own recovery was transformational for her.

Learning that I didn’t have to achieve this perfect level of wellness to be in recovery was huge and gave me the hope to keep moving forward.
- Ashleigh

“This was the first time power had been handed back to me – for anything. Realising that people believed in me and trusted me to make my own choices was a really significant turning point for me – I actually thought it was a trick at first – it took me a while to feel safe.”

Ash said the peer practitioners at Kwelena helped her realise that feeling better was a different experience for everyone.

“Learning that I didn’t have to achieve this perfect level of wellness to be in recovery was huge and gave me the hope to keep moving forward. Peer practitioners are the living proof that you can experience mental health distress and still live a good life.”

Ashleigh said the experience gave her the strength and motivation to make big changes in her life. “I went on to finish my studies, I received a scholarship to do a mental health peer work course, and I left a difficult situation that I had felt powerless to change for six years. I was able to live independently for the first time and built a social circle that had been completely decimated, all within a year of being discharged from Kwelena.”

Ash has since worked at a number of mental health support services as a peer practitioner but said Kwelena still has her heart.

“I’ve had the privilege of using my lived experience to support residents to get the most out of their stay. It’s been really beautiful to walk alongside other people on their own journeys as they make their own meaning from their stay.”

Ash praised Mind for meaningfully embedding lived experience into the structure of the organisation and its model of care.

“I’ve had no difficulty maintaining my work – and the quality of my work - because of the way my development has been guided and supported. I’ve also been able to access opportunities to step up into leadership, which I never thought would be possible for me.”

For more information about Mind support services near you, visit the Mind service finder or phone 1300 286 463.

If this article raises concerns for you, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islanders can also call 13 YARN (13 92 76) a 24/7 national crisis support telephone service staffed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 
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