The power of being understood: Why Peer Work matters
Today is Global Peer Workers Celebration Day.
It’s an annual celebration of our lived experience workforce, and was created to recognise the power of Peer workers, who use their own experience of mental health and recovery to connect with others, offering empathy, understanding, and hope.
At Stride, we acknowledge the incredible work of people who draw on their own lived experience of distress or adversity, as well as those who draw on their lived experiences as carers for family and friends. While Mental Health clinicians offer expert guidance and strategies, peer workers offer the kind of understanding that comes from experience, and offer a powerful reminder that recovery is possible.
For Kelly, a Peer worker in South West Queensland, this work is deeply personal. “It’s about standing beside someone, not to fix or judge, but to listen and to make sure they feel seen and understood,” she says. In rural areas, where access to support can be limited, that sense of connection can be life-changing.
Kelly’s approach focuses on shifting attention away from diagnoses and back to a person’s strengths – their creativity, resilience, kindness, or the quiet wisdom that comes from within. Kelly feels it’s a privilege to remind people that “they’ve survived 100% of their hardest days, and that resilience is proof of their strength.”
To Kelly, Peer work is the heart of mental health services, offering the human connection that brings warmth and hope into spaces that can often feel clinical. “It’s about making sure no one walks the path alone,” she says. “Sometimes, just knowing someone believes in you can be the first step toward healing.”
To all the incredible peer workers out there, we wish you a happy Global Peer Work Day.
