The United States is in the midst of a mental health crisis that spans generations.
A 2023 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey found that four out of 10 high school students feel sad or hopeless a lot of the time.
And a 2024 Mental Health America report found that nearly one in four adults has dealt with a mental health issue in the last year. The same report says it’s tough for people to get help because there’s only one mental health provider for every 340 people in the country.
According to Yasmin Flasterstein, co-founder and executive director for Peer Support Space, finding resources for people with intersecting marginalized identities is even harder.
“We’re a grassroots collective that was born out of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy,” she told PGN. “Most people that were impacted directly or indirectly were LGBTQ+ and either Hispanic or Latinx or Black, and you don’t find a lot of Spanish-speaking therapists that focus on the LGBTQ+ community.”
Flasterstein shared how the organization uses a peer-led model as a direct response to the lack of mental health care.
Here’s more of what she said.
PGN: What is Peer Support Space’s purpose?
Yasmin Flasterstein: We’re a community of people with lived experience navigating mental health struggles or life struggles, and we’re really a support system for one another. So, whatever someone’s navigating, they don’t have to navigate it alone.
We have over 75 community gatherings per month that are a mixture of virtual and in-person peer-led support groups. We also have one-on-one peer support.
While we’re in Orlando, Florida, anyone over 18 years old can use our virtual resources.
PGN: How does accessibility play a role in the services your organization provides?
Y.F.: Our mental health system is really unaffordable. A lot of times, you’re on a long wait list, and even if you can find the resources that you need, a lot of times they’re really expensive.
Our resources are free, so they’re financially accessible. But they’re also accessible in [other] approachable ways.
Mental health stigma is really rampant. When you combine these layers of cultural stigma that a lot of communities face, a lot of times, it just feels more approachable to talk to somebody else who’s been there before.
It’s like I’m just making friends with other adults versus seeing a therapist or a psychiatrist first, right?
People hear what works for others, and that ends up being a stepping stone to other resources.
Peer services are culturally competent, they’re accessible, they’re approachable, and they also are non-carceral and self driven.
People know themselves and they know what works for them. But a lot of times, people are handed a one-size-fits-all treatment plan and people fall through the cracks with that.
PGN: How so?
Y.F.: An example would be in recovery spaces. A lot of times, they use an abstinence-only approach, which works for some people and that’s great.
But if somebody came to a peer supporter and they said, ‘My goal is to only use on the weekends,’
then, how can I support you in that?
And that person might stay [because they’re] being supported, versus feeling like this isn’t for me at all.
In a lot of ways, peer support embraces a harm reduction model. People think of harm reduction and they think of addiction recovery or substance misuse, but, you know, harm reduction also can be for self-harm or for other behaviors.
Really, it’s just meeting people where they’re at.
PGN: How does your organization respond to the current political climate?
Y.F.: There’s a ripple effect from recent events that has really led to the normalization of transphobia and homophobia and racism. Really, there’s just been a lot of reasonable fear within a lot of the communities that we center around.
When systems fail us, we turn to one another, and formally or informally, that is what peer support is, right? It’s saying, I am going to support you, we’re going to support one another. I think it’s really important to have spaces where you can talk about different things.
For example, politics is a topic that is allowed within peer-support spaces, and I think the reality is that it’s hard to separate the two when a lot of our identities have been politicized, making it really difficult to just say, ‘I’m not going to talk about that,’ when it [has] such a big impact on your life.
My job as a peer supporter isn’t to fix anybody or to tell anybody how they should feel, but just really give a space where people can share how they feel without judgment.
One of the most powerful things we can do is turn to one another. I think it’s more important than it’s ever been to have peer-led communities right now.
PGN: What do you wish other community health workers knew about peer-led spaces, like Peer Support Space?
Y.F.: I wish that other health care workers knew that we are here to work with you. I think that there’s a fear that peer support is going to kind of replace other [resources], and I think that there is a time and a place for everything.
The reality is that research shows that when you have a peer supporter along with your therapist, along with your outpatient services, people aren’t just happier overall in their lives, which is what’s important, but they’re happier with their therapists. They’re happier with their outpatient services, right? And, isn’t that the ultimate goal?