January 11, 2023
 
Hello International Peer Respite/Soteria Summit Participants, Friends, and Allies,
 
We are very excited that, as a follow-up to the Summit, we are offering an overview of Intentional Peer Support (IPS) on Sunday, February 5, 2023, at 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. For the Time Zone Converter, follow this link: www.thetimezoneconverter.com
 
Many presenters during the Summit referred to IPS as being foundational for operating peer respites and Soteria Houses, as well as for improving relationships with family, friends, and others. Taking the full IPS training can be life-changing. We are pleased to offer this overview where everyone can be introduced to IPS and learn its principles. We are confident you will find this well worth your time.
 
“As peer support in mental health proliferates, we must be mindful of our intention: social change. It is not about developing more effective services, but rather about creating dialogues that have influence on all of our understandings, conversations, and relationships.” – Shery Mead, founder of IPS
 
Intentional Peer Support is a way of thinking about and inviting transformative relationships. It provides a powerful framework for creating relationships where people learn and grow together. IPS is used across the world in community, peer support, and human services settings, and is a tool for community development with broad appeal to people from all walks of life.
 
Why IPS? Peers come together around shared experiences and often a desire to change lives. But without a new framework to build upon, people frequently re-enact “help” based on what was done to them. IPS offers a foundation for doing something different. We come from a history of grassroots alternatives that focus on building relationships that are mutual, explorative, and conscious of power.
 
In this three-hour online overview, participants will learn about the history of IPS as well as the tasks and principles of this transformational framework. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and have interactive discussions with the facilitators and other participants.
 
This training is sponsored by the Summit and is free. Closed captioning will be available.
 
Register now at this link: https://form.jotform.com/230092868650157
 
You will be emailed the link to participate before Feb. 5th.
After the three-hour overview of IPS, some of us plan to stay around so we can connect, and share our work and experiences since the Summit.
 
We look forward to "seeing you" again on Sunday, Feb. 5th. We hope you can join us!
 
 
International Peer Respite/Soteria Summit Planning Team
 
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Be sure to check out the Summit website; it has a great listing of resources.
And we have some very short, powerful videos from the Summit that you can watch here.