Peer support starts with choice
The goal is not to take over. The goal is to help the person feel less alone, understand their options, and choose the next step that fits their own priorities.
Use local policy
This guide is a support tool, not a replacement for your organization's supervision, safety protocols, or required training.Core practices
Active listening
Listen to understand, not to rush the person into your preferred next step.
Boundaries
Clear limits protect the person, the worker, and the relationship.
De-escalation
Slow the pace, reduce pressure, and focus on immediate safety and choice.
Purposeful self-disclosure
Share lived experience only when it helps the person's goals, not to take the focus.
Follow-up
A referral is not the end. Make the next step visible and realistic.
What to document
- What the person asked for or agreed to work on.
- What support, referral, resource, or next step was offered.
- Any concrete follow-up needed, including who owns it and by when.
- Only the details needed for support continuity.
Avoid overexposure
Do not record unnecessary trauma details, gossip, diagnoses, speculation, or full names where anonymous IDs are the safer local practice.After a hard interaction
- Check immediate safety first.
- Debrief with a supervisor or trusted team member when policy allows.
- Separate facts from feelings in any written note.
- Use the next shift handoff to carry only what is useful.
Sources
All sources accessed July 2, 2026. Service details change often — call first to confirm hours, intake, and availability before travelling.
- Intentional Peer Support — Intentional Peer Support
- Trauma-informed practice — Public Health Agency of Canada