Day in the life of Martin Jordan, Senior Peer Support Worker | Talking #TeamCWPT blog

Martin is a senior peer support worker in the Trust, supporting our community mental health services. Alongside his manager, Martin oversees and supports peer support workers across the Trust.

Peer support workers (PSWs) use their experience of living with a long-term condition to support people who are accessing health services. They offer reciprocal support, helping people move to a more positive, meaningful and fulfilled future. The role of a PSW is relatively new, andwe've grown our PSW Team from 1 to 27 over the last 3 years! We're thrilled that we have peer support workers not only in our mental health services, but eating disorders, criminal justice services, autism services, veterans' services and perinatal services.

Martin joined CWPT just over 2 years ago as a peer support worker in our Early Intervention Psychosis Team. After around 16 months, Martin was successfully recruited as our first senior peer support worker. Martin uses his lived experience of mental health to help others.

My mental health journey was triggered when I started university. University is a big life experience and can be quite traumatic for some people. In 2006, I was diagnosed with psychosis and since then I've been on a journey to learn what medications and coping techniques work for me. There have been bumps in the road and I have been admitted to hospital several times, but each stay was shorter, and I learned a lot about myself and how to help people who have gone through similar experiences as me.

Before joining CWPT, I'd never heard about the role of a peer support worker. I used to work in warehouse environments and always chose not to disclose my mental health. Now, I get to use my lived experience to help people who are on their own recovery journey. Being a peer support worker is so valuable as it helps to show people with a new diagnosis that there's hope.

Now, as a senior peer support worker, I provide clinical supervision to all our peer support workers across CWPT, which includes facilitating group supervision sessions and I've just started bimonthly drop in sessions for management supervisors. I also help co-deliver the 2-day peer support training offered by our Recovery and Wellbeing Academy.

We have told you about the great work Martin does to support our Lived Experience Team here at CWPT, here's a glimpse at what a day as a senior peer support worker looks like.

9am

Usually, the first thing I do when I start work is have a brainstorm about what I have to do for the day. I also have a few inboxes that I monitor, so I will also check what emails have come in and respond to any questions.

10am

Appraisals. My days can be very varied, but we are currently going through our Trust's appraisal window, so recently I have been supporting with appraisals for our peer support workers. Appraisals are a great chance to see how staff are getting on and set development goals for the coming year.

11:30am

Clinical supervision session. A big part of my role is clinical supervision for the PSWs at the Trust. Clinical supervision is a more regular chance to go through how staff members are feeling and is also an opportunity for me to advise them on any scenarios they need support with, relating to and using my lived experience through this. I like to be really flexible with my supervision sessions and they can take 1 hour to 1.5 hours per staff member, depending on what their preference and needs are.

1pm

Lunch break. I regularly take walks on my break, as I believe movement helps to clear the mind.

1:30pm

Meeting with a partner organisation. I work collaboratively with partner organisations in my role and co-production with the local voluntary sector (VCSE) is a big part of the work I do. I often join meetings for updates on work taking place and to check in with PSW within those organisations, such as Rethink, Mind or other organisations interested or associated with peer support.

2:30pm

In the afternoons, I make sure to go back to my brainstorm from the morning and see what else is left to do. I also keep afternoons as a dedicated space to catch up on emails and get up to date with my training. I'm currently undertaking a level 3 qualification. In the afternoons, I like to be as available as possible for the staff members I support in case they need me.

5pm onwards

I'm very active outside of work. My mental health can become loud sometimes, so physically moving really helps. I typically exercise 4 or 5 times a week, including gym sessions, a Cuban salsa class, yoga and I occasionally swim. Other things I do for my mental health include reading, playing chess and making sure I am well rested. I also write poetry and have recently started sharing my poetry at open mics and events. Creativity is another outlet for me and helps me manage my mental health.

If you read Martin's story and are interested in peer support opportunities, Martin co-facilitates a 2-day peer support worker training with the Recovery and Wellbeing Academy. You can find out more on the Recovery and Wellbeing Academy website.