Matt’s Story: the power of silence

 “Watching people give back to each other, and how much kindness and wisdom they give to each other has been amazing.”

After finishing his second year at university studying Forensic and Criminal Psychology, Matt decided that he wanted to start helping people by facilitating our peer support groups.

In these sessions, everyone is encouraged to share their own lived experiences. It gives people, who may not feel comfortable to do so with family and friends, a space to share their feelings without fear of judgement.

For Matt, he has seen a remarkable positive change among the group:

“Especially people who come from different backgrounds of mental health, different disabilities or having neurodiversity – everyone is so warm and pleasant to each other”.

Being recently diagnosed with ADHD, Matt explained how the peer support sessions helped him to grow his active listening skills and feel comfortable sitting in silence.

“You don’t always need to talk. A lot of the time it’s nicer for that person just to listen and let them come to their own realisations about things”.

These sessions and the skills that Matt has gained through his volunteering role are invaluable to helping him to grow in his career and he recently also took up the opportunity to join a panel discussion with national Mind staff, to talk about his experiences. Though slightly daunted by the prospect of speaking in front of so many people, he embraced the challenge and received amazing feedback.

“My role leading the peer support groups has been very hands-on and I have created strong bonds with members, which will help me in my future role in the mental health sector working to support adults”.

Find out more about peer support by listening to our podcast.