Wellbeing Service
Peer Support
Group Work Brochure
peer-led courses, workshops and support groups
for mental health and wellbeing
“you alone can do it, but you don’t have to do it alone”
Leeds Mind Wellbeing Service, Clarence House, 11 Clarence Road, LS18 4LB
tel: 0113 305 5802 email: wellbeing@leedsmind.org.uk
www.leedsmind.org.uk
What is Peer Support group work?
Participatory groups where members are able to share experiences and learn from
each other. Our groups are safe and supportive environments, where anyone with
experience of difficulties with their mental health can exploretheir understanding of
their mental health and develop effective coping strategies to promote recovery and
maintain mental wellbeing. All of our groups are facilitated by people who have
themselves experienced difficulties with their mental health and/orhave used Peer
Support group work.
What types of groups does Peer Support offer?
Short courses and one-day workshops cover a range of topics such as
assertiveness, self-esteem building, mindfulness and meditation, building resilience
and setting boundaries. These courses provide an opportunity to share experiences
whilst developing skills to better manage mental health and wellbeing
Weekly support groups provide a space where people can give and receive mutual
support which can help maintain and develop wellbeing as well as practice the skills
developed on the courses. Many group members use the support groups as part of
their self-care regime to maintain good mental health.
More information on the groups we offer is provided below. See our website for times
and dates of upcoming group work.
How can I join Peer Support?
If you would like to get
and book yourself on
experience group work
ask any questions you
coming up.
involved with Peer Support, please call the Wellbeing Service
to an Introduction to Group Work session, where you can
first hand, learn more about Peer Support and what we offer,
might have about group work and find out what activities are
Alternatively, book yourself on to one of our one-day workshops, which are open to
anyone, and which don’t require you to have done Introduction to Group Work.
Please note, places on all of our activities are limited, and must be booked in advance
by calling the Wellbeing Service on 0113 305 5802.
Will I have to pay for Peer Support?
All of our activities are completely free of charge, though we do ask for donations to
help us keep the service running.
COURSES
Skills for Wellbeing
Confidence Building
Develop your understanding of self-confidence, what affects it and how you can build
and maintain it. Look at how your relationship with yourself and other can impact on
your self-confidence, and how you can develop strategies to look after yourself.
Assertiveness Skills
Learn about assertiveness and benefit from opportunities to practice assertiveness
skills in a safe, supportive environment. These skills include identifying your needs,
asking for what you want, saying no and responding to criticism.
Self-Esteem Building
Explore how you think and feel about yourself, and how this affects your life and
relationships with others. Learn to recognise your strengths and resources, and use
those to build your self-esteem and personal effectiveness.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness and Meditation
Relax, gain perspective, and develop a deeper engagement with meaning and
awareness. Explore different types of meditation and find out which works for you.
Gain support in your learning from others in the group.
Enhancing Positive Emotion
Go deeper into Mindfulness and Meditation and build on your practice of loving
kindness. Explore the notion of the “heart” and practices around this, evoking positive
emotion and the deeper implications of opening and healing the heart.
Living Well with Pain
Learn new strategies for coping with chronic pain, fatigue and ill health, and the mental
distress that often comes with these.
Use mindfulness techniques for selfmanagement, and gain a toolkit of resources you can apply in your own life.
WORKSHOPS
Building Resilience
Explore how to recognise, develop and maintain your resilience and cope better when
life presents you with challenges.
Managing Anxiety
Learn to recognise anxiety, what it is and what we can do to manage and reduce it.
Managing Depression
Explore what is meant by depression, how it can impact on your life and the lives of
others, and look at ways of managing it.
Managing Self-Harm
This is a workshop for people who use self-harm as a coping strategy, and provides an
opportunity to look at ways of managing this behavior in a non-judgmental space.
Setting Boundaries
Learn to recognise the difference between healthy and unhealthy boundaries, and how
you can establish fair and reasonable boundaries for yourself and with others.
Healing and the Heart
Develop awareness of the heart as a space of safety and healing, where you can find
joy and compassion and release buried feelings and heal emotional scar tissue.
SUPPORT GROUPS
Mutual Support Group
Develop a deeper understanding of your mental health in a safe and supportive
environment with others who have been through similar experiences. Celebrate
successes, receive support from others when things aren’t going so well, share
experiences and learn from other people’s coping strategies.
Mindfulness Practice Group
If you find mindfulness and meditation approaches useful for managing your mental
health and wellbeing, then this group will provide you with a welcoming space where
you can practice your skills and develop them further. There is a different theme each
week.
Self-Harm Support Group
This group is for people who use self-harm as a coping strategy, and who would like to
explore ways of managing and understanding this form of behaviour, receive support
and learn from other people’s experiences in a non-judgmental and friendly
atmosphere. At least one of the facilitators will have experience of self-harming.