IMPACT builds lived experience capabilities  

Recognising the crucial role of lived experience in mental health work, IMPACT Community Services has welcomed Lived/Living Experience Lead Missy Sands to strengthen the organisation’s capabilities in this evolving space.  

Missy has begun the important work of implementing IMPACT’s very own lived experience framework, which will guide staff practice across the organisation's extensive peer support network. The focus is on embedding a consistent, values-driven approach to peer work while building the confidence and capability of the workforce. 

Step one is training, with IMPACT’s team of peer support workers recently starting a six-week training program Missy put together to teach them the fundamentals of lived experience group work.  

“They’re learning how to facilitate groups with the different dynamics, personalities and people in front of them,” Missy said. “Role play is going to be huge because we learn by doing.” 

“We're going to have conversations with people that can be intense. They could be crisis conversations.  

“We’re exploring how you navigate that so they’re safe and you’re safe, and when to escalate matters.”  

She says someone with lived experience can’t walk straight into lived experience work, with confidence and skills taking years to hone.  

“I remember feeling like an imposter at first. I didn’t feel comfortable doing the work until a good couple of years into it,” Missy said. 

Nine years down the track on her lived experience peer work journey, Missy is embracing the chance to show her team the ropes. She couldn’t be more qualified for the challenge, having played an integral role in getting psychosocial peer group sessions off the ground in Queensland. 

“When I was at Queensland Health, the peer recovery group was my baby. I started that group.  

“Now it is mandatory, so I’m going to embed that, teach the peers how to deliver that and give them the methodology behind it so they understand that whole process.” 

In addition to understanding the unique cohorts in each area that IMPACT serves, including Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and Kingaroy, Missy says she’s focused on reaching those in underserviced rural areas. 

“In Gayndah, Mundubbera and Eidsvold, they're not getting that much service because there are only a few peers and they're not in that area.  

“We're trying to navigate how we can get some support that way, whether it's online through Microsoft Teams or us as a team going out there once a week or once a month.” 

Core to peer support work is a strong passion, and Missy brings that wholeheartedly to her role. She said she’s a big believer in the peer way and its ability to improve lives.  

“I take nothing away from the clinical side. We're all here for different parts of that person, but we all come together for the same reason, and that’s to support them. 

“As peer workers, we make a big impact on somebody who is sitting in front of us and doesn’t know where to go or how to live independently.   

“Giving that hope, motivation and empowerment is quite magical.”  

It’s a reminder for all of us to pause and consider the power of genuine human connection, and how much hope can grow when someone simply walks beside another with understanding and care. 

For more on IMPACT’s Group-Based Peer Recovery Support Program, visit https://impact.org.au/support-and-wellbeing/mental-health/mental-health-services/group-based-peer-recovery-support-program/