University Expert in Peer Support

Programme description

The University Expert postgraduate programme in Peer Support trains professionals to incorporate their own lived experience as a tool for support in the fields of mental health and social care. Peer support has become established as a transformative practice that humanises interventions, builds trust and motivation, and helps reduce the stigma that often accompanies situations of vulnerability. This postgraduate programme was created to respond to this reality, training professionals capable of leveraging their personal experience as a support tool and developing skills to intervene effectively in mental health and social care contexts.

This model, which has already been successfully implemented in contexts such as addictions, homelessness and gender-based violence, demonstrates that sharing experiences among people with similar backgrounds improves the quality of care and promotes recovery.

Coordinated by Gemma Prat, the programme offers specialised and rigorous training that enables participants to understand the role of the peer support expert, develop support skills and integrate this figure into interdisciplinary teams. It represents an opportunity to professionalise a key role within mental health services and emerging social fields.

Programme objectives

• Provide tools to support people with mental health difficulties through lived experience
• Understand the recovery model and its practical application. Learn about the historical perspectives of mental health care and the emerging role of the peer support agent.
• Develop communication skills and support strategies.
• Identify facilitating factors and barriers in the organisation of mental health services.
• Describe strategies for addressing ethical dilemmas in therapeutic practice.
• Develop the ability to analyse power dynamics in support relationships.
• Understand the socio-emotional impact of stigma in mental health.