English below!
At the end of August, 22-28. The seven-member representative office of the Estonian Youth Mental Health Movement, consisting of Merle Purre, Marion Demus, Matilde Sigijane, Karmen Kozma, Jekaterina Maslova, Helen Voogla and Eia Vänzel, participated in the experience-based support. peer support) training in Iceland. Training Peer Support + was the first major step in a project of the same name, launched as a collaboration between three mental health organizations in Estonia, Iceland and the Netherlands. The project focuses on the development of learning materials and solutions for adult learners to develop the provision and use of experiential support in the field of mental health.
We will elaborate on the nature of experiential support in future posts, but how does ENVTL mean it in the area of mental health? This is the help and support that a trained person can provide to their peers based on their experience. There are many forms of experiential support, such as experiential counseling, support and discussion groups, peer support at school, the workplace or the clubhouse, sharing experiences through outreach, and more.
During the six-day training, the operation and implementation of experiential support were discussed and introduced in more detail. While on the first day the emphasis was mainly on getting to know each other and the background of the topic, the next five days were quite practical. Attention was paid to asking open questions, reflecting on them, creating a safe environment and making contact with each other. The topics of the whole training were structured as an experience-based support process, where the beginning was established and how to complete the cooperation.
In addition to Estonia, the Dutch organization Herstel Talent (who put together a training program) and Iceland were also represented, and we were also able to visit the mental health organization Hugarafl.
Participants' impressions of the training:
Karmen: “I was looking forward to the training at Peer Support and I knew from the beginning that I was applying. When I got the place, I felt like it was going to be a great trip. But that's not so great - wow, wow, wow! It was the first time for me to be with a larger group of people from ENVTL, and it was an experience in itself. In addition, there were more experiences. Icelandic nature is one of them. I had seen pictures of different parts of Iceland before and heard travel impressions, but there was still something else to see with all my eyes. In the meantime, there was a feeling that what I was seeing could not quite be - a ravine with a petrified volcano on the left, an active volcano with fiery red lava directly in front, and a blue ocean on the right. The food there also became an experience. We went to a local seaside restaurant to eat, and when we thought it was okay, we couldn't get any better now, even last night. And that's the main thing - Peer Support. Since I have already been exposed to a similar field in Estonia, I did not get much new knowledge. But on the practical side. We got to try to support each other with Peer Support and immediately realized that this is something I can and want to do. In addition, I was very much talked about by the freedom and authenticity of the people there - I definitely took it with me. So far it has been one of my most memorable trips! Thanks to ENVTL for the opportunity. ”
Marion: “2021. The Erasmus + Peer Support training in Reykjavik in August 2006 was an experience I could not have expected and certainly would not have missed. When I applied for the training, I felt like I was jumping into the unknown and going out of my comfort zone. New people from abroad as well as from Estonia and a topic I had never heard of before. Nevertheless, 9 days were wonderful. I learned a great deal about myself and I am very happy to find a time at the end of the summer to pay more attention to my mental health. I can definitely say that during the training I developed my ability to tolerate, the ability to listen to others and speak correctly. Certainly one of the best parts of the training was that all participants dared to be honest and open, which made the practice of Peer Support conversation more natural. Today, I have already been able to use these skills. In addition, I would definitely like to thank my fellow travelers, without whom this training would not have been so in my heart. It was great to see the wonderful nature of Iceland and to laugh and impress together until late in the evening. I understand that I am on the right track and still want to see and interact with them! Thank you and until the next training! ”
We are very grateful that we were able to participate in the training and establish contacts with other mental health organizations, from whom we receive new ideas and practical advice. We also thank the organizers from the Netherlands and Iceland and hope to see them in Estonia soon.
The Peer Support + project will run from autumn 2020 to autumn 2022 and is funded by the Erasmus + program.
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At the end of August, from the 22nd to the 28th, a seven-member representation of the Estonian Youth Mental Health Movement (ENVTL) took part in a peer support themed training in Iceland. The training, Peer Support + was the first big step in a project of the same name, implemented as a collaboration between three mental health organizations from Estonia, Iceland and the Netherlands. The project focuses on creating learning materials and solutions for adult learners, to develop providing and using peer support in the field of mental health.
We will elaborate the nature of peer support in future posts, but how does ENVTL describe it in the field of mental health? Essentially, it can be defined as the help and support that people with lived experience can offer one another - of course, with some training and preparation to do so. There are many forms of peer support - peer-to-peer counseling, support and discussion groups, providing peer support at schools, work or clubhouse or sharing experience stories in the context of outreach and many more.
At the six-day training we were told and introduced in more detail about how peer support works and is carried out. On the first day we were mainly getting to know each other and got acquainted with the background of the topic, as the next five days were quite practical. Attention was given to asking open questions, mirroring and the creation of a safe space and mutual contact. All of the subjects on the training were structured reflecting the whole process of peer support. We started with making contact and ended with how to complete the cooperation.
Our partners in the project are a Dutch organization Herstel Talent (Recovery Talent), who put the training program together and an Icelandic mental health organization Hugarafl (Mindpower), who invited us to see their workplace as well.
Participants' impressions of the training:
Carmen: “I looked forward to the peer support training and knew from the beginning that I was applying. When I got to the place I felt like it was going to be a great trip. But the real deal - wow, wow, wow! It was the first time for me to be with a larger group of people from ENVTL and that itself was an experience. In addition, there were more amazing experiences and Icelandic nature is definitely one of them. I had previously seen pictures of different parts of Iceland and heard travel impressions, but it was still something entirely else to see with my own eyes. At some point I had a feeling that what I was seeing could not be real - a ravine with a petrified volcano on the left, an active volcano with fiery red lava directly in front and blue ocean on the right. The food was also amazing. Every day we come to a local seaside restaurant and when we thought “okay, this can’t get any better” - it did and especially on the last evening. And the main thing of the course - Peer Support. Since I have already been exposed to a similar topic in Estonia, I didn't get too much new knowledge. However, I did receive a lot of practice. We were able to try to support each other with peer support and I immediately realized that this is something I can and want to do. In addition I was very moved by the freedom and authenticity of the people there - I definitely took that with me. So far, this has been one of my most memorable trips! Thanks to ENVTL for this opportunity. ”
Marion: “The Erasmus + Peer Support training in Reykjavik this August was an experience I could not have expected and certainly would not have wanted to miss. When I applied for the training, I felt like I was jumping into the unknown and going enormously out of my comfort zone. New people from abroad as well as Estonia and a topic I had never heard of before. Despite all this, the time spent was wonderful. I learned a great deal about myself and I am very happy to have been able to find a time at the end of the summer to pay more attention to my mental health. I can definitely say that during the training I developed my ability to tolerate, the ability to listen to others and speak in correct terms. Certainly, one of the best parts of the training was that all participants dared to be honest and open, which made the practice of peer support conversation more natural. Today, I have already been able to use these skills. In addition, I would definitely like to thank my fellow travelers, without whom this training would not have gotten so close to my heart. It was great to see the wonderful nature of Iceland and to laugh together until late in the evenings. I realized that I am in the right movement and want to see and communicate with my people more! Thank you and until the next training session! ”
We are very grateful that we were able to participate in the training and establish connections with other mental health organizations, from whom to receive new ideas and practical advice. We also thank the organizers from the Netherlands and Iceland and hopefully look forward to seeing them in Estonia soon.
The “Peer Support +” project will run from autumn 2020 to autumn 2022 and is funded by the Erasmus + program.
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