[Peer support in a patient organization in psychiatry. Experience and practices]

Mental health patient organizations have only recently found a place among mental health stakeholders. Their activities at an individual level are based on a range of activities involving peer support, including mutual help groups or MHGs (similar to consumer-run organizations). A qualitative study based on an ethnographic approach was conducted in a patient organization at the Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, where volunteers working in patient organizations receive visitors. The study examines the experiences and practices of patient organization members acting as peer helpers in order to reflect on what patient organizations are able to contribute to people receiving psychiatric treatment. The results show that peer helpers in the patient organization or mutual help groups share the experience of recovery and promote peer support. These practices are in line with the demands of people with mental disorders expressed at different stages of their treatment. Four main components of the process of peer-support were identified. This study shows the specificity of this kind of practice in relation to the current range of resources in mental health.