Intentional Peer Support is a powerful framework for thinking about and creating transformative relationships. Practitioners learn to use relationships to see their lives and identities from new angles, develop greater awareness of personal and relational patterns, and support and challenge each other in trying new things. IPS is used across the world in settings ranging from peer-run programs to traditional human services. We come from a history of grassroots alternatives that focus on building relationships that are mutual, explorative, and conscious of power, discrimination and oppression.

The IPS Core Training is for anyone interested in mutual support and has been widely used as a foundation training for people working in both traditional and alternative mental health settings.

During the Core Training participants learn to:
Seek ways to connect, become aware of disconnects, and work to reconnect
Understand the history, successes and challenges of LGBTQ+ movement
Explore how we have “come to know what we know”
Strive for mutuality in relationships
Stay curious, question assumptions, and own judgements and opinions
Open up new ways of listening
Use experience to relate and build trust
Name and negotiate power in relationships
Approach crisis as an opportunity to grow
Share risk and responsibility
Focus on the quality of relationships instead of fixing one another
Pay attention to the impact of clinical and labeling language