plain-language definitions of the words behind peer support. no jargon, no medical gatekeeping — just what these terms actually mean and why they matter when you’re looking for somewhere to put it.
peer support is emotional and practical help exchanged between people who share lived experience of a problem, rather than help delivered by a clinician to a patient.
emotional support is the experience of being heard, validated, and accompanied by another person in a feeling — as distinct from being advised, fixed, or evaluated.
a support group is a set of people who meet regularly to share experience and encouragement around a common struggle, usually without a clinician directing treatment.
active listening is attending fully to another person to understand their meaning and feeling — reflecting it back — rather than listening only to prepare your reply.
social isolation is an objective shortage of social contact and relationships — distinct from loneliness, which is the subjective feeling of lacking connection.
co-regulation is the process of settling your own nervous system through connection with another calm, present person — the interpersonal basis of emotional regulation.
mutual aid is a form of voluntary, reciprocal exchange of resources and support among people, organized on the principle of solidarity rather than top-down charity.
anonymous support is emotional or practical help exchanged without participants revealing their real-world identity, lowering the social cost of honesty.