[(JD)]

It is quite difficult to post according to "truth"... while I believe in One Truth, there is a philosophy that each of us has her/his own truth. To try and tell someone truth just won't work... we don't know where they are, under what truth they are operating. Odds are a post of "truth" would be of the poster's truth and it may or not be accurate.

One thing we learn, as ygrec knows, in training as counselors/psychologists, is that even if we know KNOW what the client needs does not mean they are ready to hear it. And, just telling someone what might be the truth, the desired end goal, doesn't mean they then know how to get there. I liken PC to much like peer-counseling. Even though few here have had certified education regarding the "how to" of counseling, we all seem to find the niches --the rights and wrongs-- of offering support to others, as noted by the very posting in this thread.

Posting when it's all about "me" often doesn't work out. The post needs to be all about the OP, imo. However, as also correctly noted in this thread, the giving of support often does include the taking of same... thus the 'mutual support and information sharing ' as the guidelines state. http://forums.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=3643

But each member is on a different part of the path. Some, I daresay, are not on the "right" path at all. Are we to withhold support to either group? Are we to shun someone who is at the beginning of their journey until they catch up (or grow up) to "our" standards? Is someone on a different path not given support, even though their disorder may never allow them to truly appreciate or use or understand that support? Of course not, and I think the majority of members here don't differentiate between such members.

Being on a different part of the path doesn't mean some are better than others. Just like someone in 9th grade is not better than someone in 3rd grade. No, they are just on different sections of the same path.

But there is a differentiation occurring. Some here have stated their reasons, some of those reasons being not enough time, energy, feeling inadequate to give an informative post that they'd like to, etc.

I have to go back to the past, to bring us forward again I think. When PC first began there wasn't a big listing of categories of forums etc. It was all pretty much "General" support and sharing, and chat. (And if there were 8 of us in DocJohn's chat, that was a BIG full chat! ) I mean, back then if you were active at PC, you pretty much read and responded to every post. Now, we do have the option of dividing up what we will read, and what threads we will participate in, with the added "excuse" (and in no way do I mean that negatively) of just plain not being able to read and reply to all the posts.

We do decide, according to our abilities and needs, where we spend our time giving and receiving support. I think it takes nothing from the experience, myself.

With that said, I find that each forum is establishing it's own philosophy of posting perhaps? Someone who normally posts only in one or two forums may find that their posts of support in another forum isn't accepted or quite understood regardless of how long the member has been at PC. The forum they "hang out in" develops a continuity and maybe an expected style of give and take that other forums don't have.

IDK just thinking out loud I guess

[Open Eyes]

Oh (((((((hankster)))))) I know you have, I have noticed, you have been working hard at it, me too. And I feel very exposed when I post and if I think someone is not welcoming me I feel very hurt.

No, don't take this wrong, you post fine, dont be done. I can't tell you how many times I have felt that way. I almost felt that way in this thread, but I didn't let that happen. And to be honest, I can't even count how many times that has happened to me outside PC. A part of me is almost waiting for that to happen and I know it is a part of what I have. I have walked a line so many times hankster, really. I don't really talk about it that much here at PC but it is hard for me right now. But I am working at it and getting better. I am trying to remember the good things I did and how that got messed up. I have had some bad situations in my life where other people have really hurt me. It's hard to look at in therapy sometimes, it hurts.

I haven't taught in a few years now, those animals were ruined, I was ruined. I am trying to get back there and I do have a "BAD TEDDY BEAR" but I remember that I used to have a good "GOOD ONE". And as JD puts it very effectively everyone is on a path some further ahead, some trying to catch up, different paces for each one, no one is better than another.

No one is really expecting you to change or be different, you don't have to, I dont have to, I am just thinking right along with the others and learning, and like my phrase under my name, I am doing that "ONE DAY AT A TIME".

((((((HUGS HANKSTER))))))

Open Eyes

[Ygrec23]

Originally Posted by TheByzantine

Effective communication is a skill that takes work, experience and perseverance to achieve.

Agreed, but perhaps thought and contemplation as well, or are those contained within "work"?

A question always in the back of my mind is what is the communication intended to achieve? The Community Guidelines tell us: "This is, first and foremost, a self-help support community. That means if your message (post or PM) isn't about offering support to another person or asking for it, it's potentially not appropriate for our community." "Offering support," therefore, is a requisite to posting philosophies. There are many definitions and nuances to consider when determining what "support" means in the context of this site: http://www.onelook.com/?w=support&ls=a The lack of consensus about what it means to "offer support" makes improving the level of support being offered more difficult. I view offering support as help and kindness that you give to someone who is having a difficult time. If I cannot be helpful and kind, I do not respond.

Assuming helpfulness and kindness as givens, what room is there for a plurality of approaches to "support"?

These links may pique your interests in the context of philosophical approaches to support: http://www.mentalhealthpeers.com/pdf...portUnique.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_support

Very, very interesting, particularly the Mead and MacNeil piece. It would be nice if that kind of thinking could be brought to pervade PC, but I wonder whether it would be practical. It seems quite complicated.

Take care!

[Ygrec23]

Originally Posted by Open Eyes

Well lets ask the op and see what he thinks Lynn. Ygre23, are we all providing you with good answers to your thread? Are we tiring you out and complicating a simple process? Because if I am not adding anything helpful, I will put my efforts elsewhere and we can just end right here with Lynns statement. Basically just post a varied response to different threads. Open Eyes

I think everyone is doing just fine, Open Eyes. Lots and LOTS of good answers. Lots and lots of things for me to think about when I'm posting. And no, you're not tiring me out nor are you, in my opinion, complicating a simple process (though missbelle might think so). To me, at least, the project of writing little things called posts to people far away in great need of something they're not sure of, is a very worthwhile project and deserves very, very careful consideration to make sure we're giving as much help as possible to as many people as possible. So I guess you could say that from my point of view this isn't a simple topic at all. Take care, both of you!

[(JD)]

It has been such a long time since I've been in a good, long, conversation such as this. IRL people just don't have time, and here, well, it appears there are always those that take offense and the thread is closed long before the discussion is complete.

From that mental health peer pdf article:

Peer support in mental health however has a more political frame of reference. Whereas
some support groups form around the shared experience of illness, peer support grew out of a civil/human rights movement in which people affiliated around the experience of negative mental health treatment. (e.g. coercion, over- medication, rights violations, as well as an over- medicalized version of their “story”). In other words, the shared experience has had more to do with responses to treatment than the shared experience of mental illness. The Independent Living Movement has been the quintessential guide to
this way of thinking.

My reference here to peer support was formulated more from the actual experience here which encompasses both the discussion of lack of or understanding of mental health care from professionals and the other-member-like-me who offers empathic support.

[Open Eyes]

Thank you Ygrec23,

In one of my posts I was giving an example of using visuals in a post. The teddy bear is something that many people can picture in their mind and relate to. And I am often a very visual person, for many different reasons.

For example missbelle is visual too as she presents different members with something visual on their board that is something pleasant to look at. Greylove does the same and I often like to visit her site when I feel a need for not only a visual but a comforting presence. And the Byzantine has changing visuals that I like to visit and contemplate over. And there are many different visuals here, the smileys allow people to give a message and present a visual to compliment that message.

If I present a visual sometimes a person can find strength by taking that visual and putting it in their mind as they struggle to find comfort in a positive way. So, in my example a person can visualize themselves working on a "Good teddy bear" and even keeping to task with that.

However, not everyone likes those, some people find them triggering. One soldier that I talk to doesn't like them and they trigger him so I don't put them in.

But for me, in the beginning, those visuals really helped. I am glad I have had access to them to use myself. I have a bland homepage and I don't really like my avatar, but I really havent had time to learn how to do that yet. I often wish I could present my own cartoons like I do outside PC. Someday I will look into taking time to learn that, right now I just don't have time.

So, that is another thing that can make a post special.

Open Eyes

[(JD)]

Ygrec, is this really that complicated?

Process standards are more like beliefs, styles and
values.

They include the peer principle (finding affiliation with someone with similar life experience and having an equal relationship),

the helper principle (the notion that being helpful to someone else
is also self healing),

empowerment (finding hope and believing that recovery is possible; taking personal responsibility for making it happen),

advocacy (self and system advocacy skills),

choice and decision making opportunities,

skill development,

positive risk taking,

reciprocity,

support,

sense of community,

self help,

and developing awareness (Campbell, 2004, Clay, 2004).

[Ygrec23]

Thank you Lynn, but that was my point, there is no neat box.

And no easy answers, as Lynn has stated.

But there are a lot of neat ideas here and some good suggestions. And an opportunity for members to state some of what goes into the way they post, look at posting, and try to accomplish that may be of a supportive nature to both the op and the person posting to that op.

I would hope that we all could learn something here.

I honestly don't see anything wrong with the OP's question. I actually admire him for even asking instead of just assuming his way of posting was the best way of posting and participating in PC.

Do you really think there are many people here who think their way of posting is the best way?

Your a good poster Lynn and it comes natuarally to you and you don't have the personal issues that others have, maybe that is what makes it easier for you in some ways. But for some (and I did look up Ygre23's issues) it may just be more of an effort and this thread can put them at ease in some way, it did put me at ease.

That's a good way to put it: at ease. Yes, knowing that I'm not just the weirdo in the corner does help make me feel at ease.

And it also allowed me to get to know Ygre23 better, and you know what, I like him and I have seen a good side of him that just wants to be a better member. And I am very impressed that he has admitted some errors he has made.

I've spent all my life alone in my head. I'd like to come out now. You are helping me.

Personally, I like to see what others think about how they use PC and what it means to them or even someone who has been here longer and might learn a new approach that may help him/her utalize PC better and maybe look at it differently.

That's just what this thread is for.

I think this is a good thread to anyone new or fairly new or even members who have never really been validated somehow here at PC. I would have liked to have read it when I came here, I like reading it now. Sometimes a simple question in a thread can be like an open door for an opportunity to get to know other members better and also learn some things.

Let's hope so.

And I really liked how Ygre23 talked to each poster and considered their input. And to me that is being a good host and a good example of how to socialize within a group by including everyone in that group. And actually, that is what a good therapist would do because that is good therapy. Open Eyes

You're welcome!

[Ygrec23]

Originally Posted by (JD)

Ygrec, is this really that complicated?

One would think not just reading the material quoted in your post. But think seriously about putting it into practice. I wonder whether many people would have the time, energy or taste for the kind of very hard and sustained work necessary to actually live by these values in groups dedicated to the same. I think it would probably be like Brook Farm and other old American utopian community projects.

Not to mention the verbal and mental agility needed to support an extended exercise in inventing the new language that would be absolutely necessary. Read the Mead and MacNeil article linked in Byz's last post, the first article. Pay attention to the new language. I think it would be difficult for many people.

All the principles are laudable. It's a wonderful idea. I just doubt that it could be put into practice without the creation of another elite running the show. A well-meaning elite, perhaps. But I'm against all elites. In the end they all go bad, whatever their original intentions.

So, to answer your question. Yes, in my opinion, it really is that complicated!

[Ygrec23]

Originally Posted by Open Eyes

Thank you Ygrec23, In one of my posts I was giving an example of using visuals in a post. The teddy bear is something that many people can picture in their mind and relate to. And I am often a very visual person, for many different reasons.

If I present a visual sometimes a person can find strength by taking that visual and putting it in their mind as they struggle to find comfort in a positive way. So, in my example a person can visualize themselves working on a "Good teddy bear" and even keeping to task with that.

But for me, in the beginning, those visuals really helped. I am glad I have had access to them to use myself. I have a bland homepage and I don't really like my avatar, but I really havent had time to learn how to do that yet. I often wish I could present my own cartoons like I do outside PC. Someday I will look into taking time to learn that, right now I just don't have time.

So, that is another thing that can make a post special. Open Eyes

You know, Open Eyes, I use visual images myself, in my mind, images that to me correspond to a particular, good and beneficial "state of being," so that when I feel very bad, I think of that image, which is where I want to be at that moment, what I want to feel, whether balanced, or open, or aware and not hiding. They're shortcuts to better feeling states, for me. Easier and faster than thinking things out in words or just reaching around inside of me for the right feelings, going along a long road every time. I collect pictures from all over the web (decent pictures, of course) and stick them around in different places and programs in my computer. Some of them I put on my profile page or in my albums. You've given me a good idea. I'm going to set up a new album with all the pictures that mean good mental states to me and label them, so you can get an idea of what I do. Thanks!

[(JD)]

I'm a visual person as well, but not all people are... but I've found that those who are not, can become visual. (No put down intended.)

Ok... as I posted that list, I thought it might add to this thread for discussion, since you brought it up.

• peer principle (finding affiliation with someone with similar life experience and having an equal relationship), I think this occurs almost automatically, as members post in forums that pertain to their own disorders, for support
  
  
• the helper principle (the notion that being helpful to someone else
  is also self healing), Again, I think this is something that "just happens" as many of those posting on this thread have suggested.
  
  
• empowerment (finding hope and believing that recovery is possible; I broke these two apart... isn't the goal of the site and subsequently our posting aiding the seeking member in these?
  
  
• taking personal responsibility for making it happen), This is one that is more difficult. It's tough to point out (and not always a good idea) that hey, Member, you do have control and you are letting this occur--or causing this to occur... I think this is something they find along the way, with the above encouragement?
  
  
• advocacy (self and system advocacy skills), We certainly see this in many threads, where the member begins to realize they CAN respond, they CAN talk to someone IRL, they CAN... and then they, with PC member encouragement and requests for feedback, go and DO.
  
  
• choice and decision making opportunities, I think this is another area that is almost automatic simply by the mere variety in the responses given. How others solved the issue etc, people who post links for more information etc. all aid the seeking member in making decisions.
  
  
• skill development, Here at PC this is limited except in the area of social networking. I had isolated for about 5 years before coming here...and have tried to redevelop my social skills while posting here.
  
  
• positive risk taking,PC is great for this IMO. A member can put forth a dilemma and the responses might give ideas on solutions, but will also caution the member in what might be realized as a "non safe" risk.
  
• reciprocity, We've already talked about this "rec·i·proc·i·ty
  noun \ˌre-sə-ˈprä-s(ə-)tē\ plural rec·i·proc·i·ties
  Definition of RECIPROCITY 1: the quality or state of being reciprocal : mutual dependence, action, or influence "
  
  
• support, We've discussed the give and take of support here, and can find other ideas in other threads....
  
  
• sense of community, This is a little more difficult as the site grows, however, statistically it shouldn't feel that way... the average scope of a person's "community" is about 80 people, no matter how large the organization. I have over 400 "friends" here... and while others might not be keeping track with the available tools...they probably do have the 80 average. What IS PC if not "community"???
  
  
• self help, DocJohn has a myriad of tools to use for self help: the resources in articles, quizzes, blog and journalling etc. A person can find help here even without interacting with other members.
  
  
• and developing awareness Again, I think this is automatic especially after a period of active time here at PC. It's a "given" imo, for the average member.

Is this still complicated?

[Open Eyes]

"skill development, Here at PC this is limited except in the area of social networking. I had isolated for about 5 years before coming here...and have tried to redevelop my social skills while posting here." ~ POSTED IN A LIST BY JD

I did this too. I went almost 4 years. And this is something that many do not really understand. Often people see some kind of intelligence and just assume SOME are the all knowing, I know, better person, who doesn't really need help or support. And may even punch at THESE PEOPLE. (I have experienced this a real lot outside PC)

Just because someone may come across well educated or intelligent doesn't mean they too don't have issues that they struggle with.

And the other thing I have noticed is that just because someone may not type well or present perfect wordage in a post or even a question, doesn't mean they are stupid either.

For example, my daughter is a terrible typer and she has difficulty spelling because of her dislexia and her spelling is by memorizing, not sounding words out. But she is "EXTREMELY INTELLIGENT AND SUCCESSFUL AS A PERSON AND PROFESSIONAL". And is very good with people and directing them.

So as someone put it in here I think (or in a post somewhere) "YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER". And that is the one thing I do appreciate about PC and that each person has thier own message board with an about me where someone can go and see their personal struggle. Because, though there are specific forums for specific issues, you can have someone post in the General or Other Mental Health issue to a topic or question and it is nice to know the personal struggle that comes with that topic or question.

And the CHAT rooms are a flow of different people with different issues.

And lets not forget there is a constant flow of an incoming "YOUNG GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS"
that just don't know about what others consider "AN EASY 1,2 PROCESS"

Very good Post JD

[Crew]

What aches me to no end is those that truly care for another because either I am in pain or that particular person may be in pain.

just as long as it is positive to some in my opinion.

Crew

What is also hurtful is when posting to comfort someone, and getting ignored or being snapped at (YES that has happened) . I try to meet others "where they're at" but no everyone sees that as a positive thing. I try to help but the futility of that smacks me in the face. BUT this isn't about me, so again, I just wasted space.....

[Open Eyes]

Well you have been here longer than me made over 2,000 posts, I am sure you have done others good, you are trying, not everyone is easy to help, you were there, you posted not all efforts to help others work inside PC and outside PC.
Have you been helped? I am sure there are those that appreciate you.
Open Eyes

[FooZe]

Originally Posted by Ygrec23

Very, very interesting, particularly the Mead and MacNeil piece. It would be nice if that kind of thinking could be brought to pervade PC, but I wonder whether it would be practical. It seems quite complicated.

Trying to do it from a "cookbook" would certainly be complicated. Lots of things are easier to do than to describe, though, walking and breathing among them.

What I saw Mead and MacNeil doing was bringing a lot of experience to what they were telling us: such-and-such approach may sound like a good idea at first but here's what usually happens when you try it... If that's not the result you want, better take a different route or at least be prepared to change course partway through.

I'd say the most important part of learning to do anything is to notice what happens as you do it. Without that, you may get pretty good at going through the right motions but you haven't really learned much.

[Ygrec23]

Originally Posted by FooZe

What I saw Mead and MacNeil doing was bringing a lot of experience to what they were telling us: such-and-such approach may sound like a good idea at first but here's what usually happens when you try it... If that's not the result you want, better take a different route or at least be prepared to change course partway through.

Well, FooZe, they certainly did bring a lot of experience, and they certainly also had given a lot of very intelligent thought to what they were saying and proposing. Have you ever seen their philosophy in action? I haven't, so I don't know. I'm entirely in favor of the spirit of what they suggest. I just wonder whether it could be put into practice without creating an elite who really run things, although that of course would be entirely against the spirit of their proposals.

I would be very interested to know about where and with what success such ideas have been used in reality. I think that our society, at least, is so saturated in ideas of authority and hierarchy that there would be many, many people (a very significant percentage, if not a majority) who just "wouldn't get it." And they do note expressly the particular problem of any such group with their ideas interfacing (in a hospital for example) with any traditional structures. I don't know. I doubt that in my lifetime I'll ever have the opportunity to join such a community. Take care!

[Ygrec23]

Originally Posted by Calista+12

What is also hurtful is when posting to comfort someone, and getting ignored or being snapped at (YES that has happened) . I try to meet others "where they're at" but no everyone sees that as a positive thing. I try to help but the futility of that smacks me in the face. BUT this isn't about me, so again, I just wasted space.....

No you didn't just waste space. The point you raise is very important indeed, I think. People in distress can thrash about wildly without really realizing what they're doing or who they're hurting. None of us can take that personally. Here's an example in which I was the one doing the thrashing:

Ten years ago or so I had very bad urinary tract problems that ultimately led to an operation. But before it got fixed, I was hauled many times by ambulance to the ER unable to urinate and with an overful bladder. I don't know if it's happened to you but this is an incredibly painful situation.

One time, on a stretcher going into the ER, it hurt so badly I was indeed flailing about. And one of my arms hit one of the nurses trying to help me. She thought I'd actually, wilfully hit her, which of course I hadn't, but we weren't able to straighten that out until they'd put a catheter in me and things had calmed down.

In a sense, that happens with people coming to PC, and we just shouldn't let our feelings get hurt because some of these miserable folks, overwhelmed by their misery, react in some hurtful way to our attempts to help. They don't really mean it, I think.

Take care!

[Ygrec23]

Originally Posted by Open Eyes

"skill development, Here at PC this is limited except in the area of social networking. I had isolated for about 5 years before coming here...and have tried to redevelop my social skills while posting here." ~ POSTED IN A LIST BY JD

Well, I'd add to the list "seeing one's own mistakes." In real life, communication is mostly by talking, which you can't see and which disappears (at least for me) the moment after you've said something. Here, everything is in writing and kept forever. So I at least get a chance that I don't have in real life to review what I've said and how I've reacted. That means I can frequently SEE the effect of my mental problems on what I say and how I interpret what other people say. I've never been able to do that before, and it's very, very helpful.

I did this too. I went almost 4 years. And this is something that many do not really understand. Often people see some kind of intelligence and just assume SOME are the all knowing, I know, better person, who doesn't really need help or support. And may even punch at THESE PEOPLE. (I have experienced this a real lot outside PC)

Yes, yes, yes! You're SOOOO right!

Just because someone may come across well educated or intelligent doesn't mean they too don't have issues that they struggle with.

Ain't THAT the truth!

And the other thing I have noticed is that just because someone may not type well or present perfect wordage in a post or even a question, doesn't mean they are stupid either.

No question.

So as someone put it in here I think (or in a post somewhere) "YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER". And that is the one thing I do appreciate about PC and that each person has thier own message board with an about me where someone can go and see their personal struggle. Because, though there are specific forums for specific issues, you can have someone post in the General or Other Mental Health issue to a topic or question and it is nice to know the personal struggle that comes with that topic or question.

Amen.

A really, really impressive group of insights, Open Eyes! Take care.

[(JD)]

I think it's very important to realize that the paper is written for professionals regarding a type of therapy and how it may not work --as a professional trying to be a peer. The interactions and foundations are indeed applicable for true peers as we have here at PC. The caveats are for the professional side of this, showing that there can be a crossing of the line, confusion and lack of meeting goals.

http://www.mentalhealthpeers.com/pdf...portUnique.pdf Peer Support: What Makes It Unique?

Peer support in mental health has recently gained significant attention. There is increasing talk about funding and credentialing, standards and outcomes. But what is peer support and how is it different than services, even services delivered by people who identify themselves as peers?

[Ygrec23]

Originally Posted by (JD)

I think it's very important to realize that the paper is written for professionals regarding a type of therapy and how it may not work --as a professional trying to be a peer. The interactions and foundations are indeed applicable for true peers as we have here at PC. The caveats are for the professional side of this, showing that there can be a crossing of the line, confusion and lack of meeting goals.
http://www.mentalhealthpeers.com/pdf...portUnique.pdf
Peer Support: What Makes It Unique?

I think all true relationships should be aboveboard and on the table. Nothing hidden. In ALL situations. I would fear that in a supposedly "peer-to-peer" mental health situation you would have what are really superiors or authorities pretending to be peers and not admitting their true positions. In fact, there are other, more authoritarian mental health forum websites in which that's the case. There is much more direction from above, and the authorities do not admit to being authorities. It creates a dreadful atmosphere. Take care.

[FooZe]

Occasionally, it seems, crossing the "professional"-versus-"peer" lines has worked better than refusing to cross them. R.D. Laing (1927-1989) was a Scottish psychiatrist best known for his innovative approach to psychosis:

Perhaps one of the clearest examples of Laing's approach can be seen by an incident related in John Clay's book R.D. Laing: A Divided Self.

While still in Chicago, Laing was invited by some doctors to examine a young girl diagnosed as schizophrenic. The girl was locked into a padded cell in a special hospital, and sat there naked. She usually spent the whole day rocking to and fro. The doctors asked Laing for his opinion. What would he do about her? Unexpectedly, Laing stripped off naked himself and entered her cell. There he sat with her, rocking in time to her rhythm. After about twenty minutes she started speaking, something she had not done for several months. The doctors were amazed. 'Did it never occur to you to do that?' Laing commented to them later, with feigned innocence. (pp. 170-171)

I've seen that story quoted in quite a few places. This one's from a site called fUSION Anomaly.

[Open Eyes]

Wow Fooze, I hadn't seen that before, but it is exactly how I often feel. Often in my life people have said to me, "Why do you worry about others, why do you bother, you have to mind your own business and ignore them, their issues not yours"or even "That child is never going to learn" and that always surprised me. And then I see something like this that is basically one person who had a choice to either walk away and leave that young woman in the situation she was in or act on it.

I have to say that in my experience with horses I have picked certain horses that were overlooked by other people. I took the time to train them and work at them, inspite of people telling me not to waste my time. Those same people stood and watched a champion one day. And I did this with a wild, skinny, abused mustang and we worked on him and my daugher worked at training him (he was so scared he would almost sit down when we went to put a saddle on him) and we got him round and healthy and trained him and kept working at it and I wish I could show all of you how beautiful he came out. We took him to a fancy show and everyone thought he was a very expensive exotic horse imported from Europe. And I have presented others as well, a trainer told me that a horse I wanted to buy for my daughter was not the be all and end all, I bought him anyway, well the trainer sure ate those words the horse ended up being state and zone champion.

My new therapist told me that if one can train a horse, one can be a therapist and I have to say there is some truth to that.

Excellent post Foolze,

Open Eyes

[buttrfli42481]

Originally Posted by (JD)

I think it's very important to realize that the paper is written for professionals regarding a type of therapy and how it may not work --as a professional trying to be a peer. The interactions and foundations are indeed applicable for true peers as we have here at PC. The caveats are for the professional side of this, showing that there can be a crossing of the line, confusion and lack of meeting goals.

http://www.mentalhealthpeers.com/pdf...portUnique.pdf Peer Support: What Makes It Unique?

Peer support is basically like a mentor to someone who has or has had a similar situation, whether it be mental or physical, as you. I am a peer support specialist, one of a few in my area. I work with young people aged 16-25 and help them become able to live and possibly work in the community.

[(JD)]

Exactly. And Peer Support on a non-professional level so to speak, is a good thing. All the interactions listed in that article, to me, are fine between peers.

It's important for professional psychologists and counselors --who are not normally recognized as providing peer support -- do not cross the boundaries set for professional ethics. Those boundaries are there to protect the patient as much as the professional. I think that is what the article was also addressing.

PC exists because of peer support.