The Family Peer Support Service team sincerely hope that the website content will assist you to find the information and supports you need.

When a loved one experiences difficulties with their mental health it can affect the whole family, and there may be uncertainty, confusion and worry about the future.  Family members often experience a wide range of emotions such as grief, loss, guilt and shame, and it can be an overwhelming experience.  Obtaining information on supports such as Family Peer Support, can be beneficial for all the family.  Family Peer Support encourages self-care, offers information, practical skills and on-going emotional support.

In our role as Family Peer Support Workers we also listen to families, have an understanding of what they are going through, validate their experience and support them ‘where they are at’ in their recovery journey and where necessary, signpost them to other appropriate supports.  When we ask a family member how they are doing, some people break down in tears or say ‘I’m not ok’, and it is ‘ok’ NOT to be ‘ok’.  It may be the first time anyone has thought to ask them how they are feeling and coping. The message we share with the family members at the beginning of a shared journey is ‘you are important too’ and it’s important to take care of yourself.

We can understand the issues, because like so many other families we too have experienced mental health challenges and severe emotional distress, our experiences may be different but the emotions are usually the same.  Family members often struggle to understand the multidisciplinary teams and the mental health system can be challenging and we hope this site will provide you with useful information to support you and your loved one.

It is common for most families to experience difficulties in communicating with others, when faced with a trauma or a distressing situation.  Expressed emotion can often be mistaken for issues around family dynamics instead of stress.  While the majority of families learn to manage issues with the right supports, some families may benefit from clinical support programmes and you will find details about these programmes at this link.

Family Peer Support Services are presently available in the Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO) regions of Galway, Mayo and Roscommon (CHO2), Dublin (CHO9), Waterford, Wexford, South Tipperary, Carlow and Kilkenny (CHO5).  The family peer role was mainstreamed within the Health Service Executive (HSE) in 2021 and there is a commitment from the Mental Health Engagement and Recovery Office to recruit more family peer support workers in other areas in the near future.

This site is a starting point, a beginning of a process of learning and sharing together. There is a cultural shift within Mental Health Services which is gathering momentum, and in order to progress this cultural shift, we ask people who visit this site to please provide feedback and suggestions on how the site and content might be improved.  You can do this using the following link.

You can listen to some of our colleagues talk about the Family Peer Support Service and how it supports families and friends when someone they love and care for has a mental health challenge.

We are grateful to so many people who helped us with what started out as a simple idea and then became a website with useful information and supports for people who have a loved one using mental health services.

In addition to information we have collated, we have also accessed numerous other resources over the course of this project. We acknowledge the incredible work by so many people who, like us want families to be supported especially at times when that support is needed most.

Finally, we thank sincerely the people who helped us to co-produce this website. This could not have happened without the support of family members, people who use / used the services, healthcare professionals, statutory and community organisations.

Family Peer Support Workers