Blog Post 1: The Origin Story

While working in the Peer Support space in non-profit mental health organizations, I received many requests from fellow community organizations and hospitals that  were interested in offering their own Peer Support services, or were looking for some additional support for their existing Peer Support Workers.  I was thrilled when I was given the “okay” from my organization to take on these partnership projects, and found this work to be the most rewarding aspect of my job.  I loved meeting with folks who were genuinely interested in doing Peer Support the “right” way, and I was always keen to work with them through the process of engaging stakeholders, understanding the need or the gap that Peer Support services could fill, designing programs that were responsive to that need and helping them understand how to apply the values of Peer Support to every aspect of their operations, policies, program evaluation, training, and supervision of staff.    

However, within non-profit community mental health organizations, the priority (understandably so!) is  always to keep the in-house programming and services up to standard and to keep the focus on our own organizational development, as opposed to sharing that knowledge externally.  I understand this, and also felt limited by it.  This led me to starting Dunning Consulting as a way to share my knowledge and expertise with others looking to engage in the Peer Support space. 

I understand Peer Support programming well, and I have extensive experience  assessing out what works, what doesn’t work, and how to come up with solutions to challenges that will inevitably arise  when doing this work.  I love the process of involving stakeholders in the decision making process, and asking the right questions to figure out how to create programming that is engaging and responsive to folks’ needs.  I’m passionate about making sure that effective, responsible Peer Support programming exists within our mental health landscape, because I know it can help.  I’ve seen it within my work and I’ve experienced it first hand through my  own mental health experiences.  I root my approach in the joint lens of lived experience and evidence based practices, which I believe helps ground me and allows me to be a more balanced consultant. 

Through Dunning Consulting, I’m so excited to be able to say “Yes”, to organizations that are looking for  guidance and support in figuring out how to do this Peer Support thing the right way.  I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to dedicate my full focus to these organizations - your organization - , as opposed to balancing them off the side of my desk.

Thanks for joining me on this journey and I look forward to connecting with you!