Our name “erfahrungsexpert*innen“ is German for „peers in mental health“ and our network membership is based on being an „expert from experience“ with mental illness and having managed and recovered from personal crisis or critical life situations and sharing this knowledge with others.We have developed a 10-week (10x 120min weekly) training program to help people stabilize and recovery from mental illness while waiting for ambulant psychotherapy (waiting times in Germany are ~10 weeks to 6 month depending on region). The program runs since 2017 and has received an award of the “German Society for Social Psychiatry e. V. (DGSP)“ in 2020 for innovative projects zu support people with mental illnesses. A second program is certified as a mental health promotion training which is supported by the German health insurances a part of their preventional programs and is currently part of an effectiveness study compared to other programs by the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Our 1:1 peer support is paused at the moment, but is an offer to people seeking personal counseling (not therapy!) with the focus on shared experience. It is as well open to relatives, friends and everyone who cares about someone with a mental illness. One part of our work is also creating key notes, workshops ans seminars on topics related to mental health for companies and individuals. Sharing our own experience as peers – and not classic teaching from a professional perspective – is here our focus.
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