Mood Disorders Society of Canada (MDSC) is pleased to announce the Peer and Trauma Support Services has now expanded to provide peer support training for the LGTBQ2S community based on the successful MDSC Peer and Trauma Support Services model.

There is no substitute for being among people who are going through the same things as you are.

In response to the need for peer support, the MDSC’s Peer and Trauma Support Systems (P.A.T.S.S.) Team, led by facilitators with many years of lived experience, will share their knowledge and experience in the training of peer support groups.

Peer support is intended to complement clinical care that may already be provided to community members. It is well documented that peer support group members can offer greater feelings of empathy and connectedness than what occurs in a typical patient-therapist relationship.

There are six key components to the training for LGBTQ2S community members to be aware of that makes it stand out:

  1. All the workshops include a mental health worker addressing certain specific objectives and lived experience facilitators.
  2. Every participant receives a working manual.
  3. All the objectives that are shared are evidence-based as per MHCC Guidelines.
  4. Every facilitator has personal experiences themselves that validate the existence and need for the various objectives to be included in the training.
  5. Every workshop includes a practical application in that every participant gets to develop a peer support group and actually test run a peer support meeting.
  6. Every participant receives a certificate for 16 hours of peer support training from the Mood Disorders Society of Canada.

The P.A.T.S.S. Team is proud to be offering both one-day information workshops if community members are simply curious about the value of peer support work, and two-day workshops for members of the community who want to learn how to actually do peer support work. The dates and venues are to be announced soon and will be available on the MDSC website. We will keep you posted!

“The P.A.T.S.S. program will greatly assist the LGBTQ2S community and their families, and will provide the foundation for the participants to use peer support to maintain wellness and support each other to live fulfilling lives. MDSC is very grateful to Christine Newman in taking the initiative to make these workshops a reality.”

– Dave Gallson, National Executive Director, Mood Disorders Society of Canada

There is no substitute for being among people who have gone through the same things and who share their knowledge and experience.

About Mood Disorders Society of Canada

Mood Disorders Society of Canada (MDSC was incorporated in 2001 with the overall objective of improving access to treatment, inform research, and shape program development and government policies with the goal of improving the quality of life for people affected by mood disorders.) MDSC has evolved to become one of Canada’s best-connected mental health NGOs with a demonstrated track record for forging and maintaining meaningful and sustained partnerships with the public, private and non-profit sectors throughout Canada.

MDSC is an extremely active organization that strives on supporting persons with mental illness in all aspects of their lives. We provide extensive educational resources, workplace mental health programs, peer and trauma support and veterans’ programs that have a direct positive impact on the lives of Canadians, their families and caregivers.

For more information:
(613) 921-5565
info@mdsc.ca