Introduction to Intentional Peer Support

[ Introduction to Intentional Peer Support]

[ Chris Hansen]

Come explore Intentional Peer Support, a framework for thinking about and intentionally inviting transformative relationships among peers. Participants learn to use relationships to see things from new angles, develop greater awareness of personal and relational patterns, and to support and challenge each other as we try new things. IPS is used across the world in community, peer  support, and human services settings, and is a tool for community development with broad appeal to people from all walks of life. 

Outline:  The Intro to IPS presentation is highly interactive and invites conversations throughout. We will use PowerPoint to introduce participants to the basic concepts of IPS, and will also present role plays to demonstrate IPS skills. Three times throughout the workshop, ; participants will be invited to practice IPS skills and what they're learning in small groups. We will then analyze and discuss our observations as a larger group. We will also use a couple of short video clips to demonstrate IPS in action.

The bulk of the presentation will be geared towards how IPS can be used to understand and generate connection in people's lives. We will focus particularly close on how relationships can provide opportunities for developing trust, new perspectives, and taking risks to grow. By learning about and practicing the three principles and four tasks, participants will walk away with skills to further explore and develop in their work environments. We will also spend time discussing how IPS is currently being used in peer-run respites, statewide peer support projects, first-break approaches, and other innovative areas.

[ Learning Goals and Objectives]

  1.  Participants will be able to describe and demonstrate the three principles (Moving from Helping to Learning, Individual to Relationship, and Fear to Hope) and four tasks of Intentional Peer Support (Establishing Connection, Understanding Worldview, Creating Mutuality, Moving Towards instead of Moving Away)]

  2. Participants will understand how IPS is different from conventional approaches and how it can be used to generate new ideas and conversations that help both people become unstuck and grow.

  3. Participants will understand how they can apply IPS in their work lives and environments, and how it can be used more widely for social change.

Link to brief presenter bio: Chris Hansen