From a fairly early stage in the development of the Open Dialogue approach internationally, some services made the decision to include peer (support) workers in Open Dialogue training programmes and the development of Open Dialogue services. This work first began in Germany, through the training programmes developed by Volkmar Aderhold and Petra Hohn, and the services linked to these training programmes. Volkmar and Petra had long recognised the valuable and unique contribution that peer workers can bring to mental health services, and recognised that there as a natural synergy between the values in peer support work and Open Dialogue. Not only this, but in their experience peer workers proved to be very capable facilitators of Open Dialogue network meetings.

The four core tasks/principles of Intentional Peer Support – connection, worldview, mutuality, and moving towards – resonate in many ways with the practice of Open Dialogue, even though mutuality may be embodied in a rather different way. In a chapter written for the ‘Open Dialogue for Psychosis’ book, Nelson et al. (2021)* outline the ways in which peer workers have been involved in Open Dialogue network meetings in three different services, and the value that they add to such processes, including sharing their own personal experiences of mental health challenges and mental health services and their story of recovery, as well as their ability to connect with network members.

The Open Dialogue Foundation Training Programme developed by Volkmar and Petra was chosen for the Parachute Project in New York City, a city wide development in community mental health services funded by Obama Care money, alongside Intentional Peer Support training. Both peer workers and clinicians working in mobile teams undertook both the Open Dialogue and Intentional Peer Support training programmes. This project has inspired a number of initiatives internationally to adopt peer supported (or peer inclusive) Open Dialogue, including those in Queensland, Australia, and the UK.

Whilst not specifically adopting the term ‘peer’ in the name of their training programme/project, many Open Dialogue training organisations have nevertheless promoted and created opportunities for peer workers to participate in their programmes, recognising the value of their inclusion. At Open Dialogue UK we have advocated for the inclusion of peer workers in our training programmes from the start, and subsidised places in order for them to do so. We were the first to include peer workers in the three year Open Dialogue practitioner training (five peer workers/people with lived experience participated in our first programme) and have continued to look for opportunities to include peer workers wherever possible in our programmes. Where this has been possible, the richness of experience and diversity of perspectives has been notable and much valued by the trainers and the group as a whole. Our foundation training programme is based on that used in the Parachute Project in New York, and we were honoured to be chosen to deliver the training for the Queensland peer supported Open Dialogue project.

If you are interested in organising a training for a team of peer workers or a team which includes peer workers, please use the form on this page to register your interest. Alternately, peer workers are welcome to apply to our 2027 foundation training programme. Further details can be found here.

* Nelson, L, Brändli, H. & Altwies, E. (2021). Peer workers in Open Dialogue. In Putman, N., & Martindale, B. Open dialogue for psychosis: Organising mental health services to prioritise dialogue, relationship and meaning. Routledge.