Mainstream therapy can often feel unhelpful and inaccessible. Lots of people are frustrated with the mental health system, and some of us are turning to AI chatbots – finding it more helpful than professionals.
Our lived experience has shown peer support is one of the best things for feeling connection to others, and helping us to move forward with life. There is a lot of evidence that this can be very helpful.
OpenCampfire is based around a peer support model.
Inspired by…
Hi! I’m Eleanor – I set up OpenCampfire. I was inspired by a lifetime of lived experience, and years of struggling to find ‘the right help’. After discovering complex trauma and neurodiversity, things began to make more sense, and I discovered peer support was much more helpful than talking to the professionals!
I since set up creative peer support spaces, including a real-life campfire group meeting in nature just outside Brighton, called Kindling Space, and a tent full of soft toys called Ted Camp!
OpenCampfire is also heavily inspired by the work of Nicky Forsythe who created Talk For Help, the original ‘therapy without therapists’ programme which ran very successfully for years in the UK. Talk For Health taught basic counselling skills, including reflective feedback, to enable laypeople to become effective peer counsellors.
OpenCampfire is also inspired by the 12-Step Anonymous addiction support programme, some chapters of which run 24/7 online peer groups.
We’re Different
OpenCampfire is unique in that we give people the space to share for a set length of time, followed by an optional invitation to receive reflections from peers around their share.
This adds a greater depth of connection to the peer experience.
Emotional Skills for Life
It’s important people don’t give advice that hasn’t been asked for. Understanding this is an emotional literacy skill which can be taught. We teach basic reflective listening skills, introduced organically within sessions and modelled by peers for others to use with reminders in each campfire.
These therapeutic skills can facilitate a strong sense of belonging and connection in peer spaces like OpenCampfire, as well as giving us useful tools to improve connections and relationships IRL ‘in the real world’.
Accessible To All
OpenCampfire is particularly accessible. We are open to people of all ages, genders, nationalities, etc. to join our campfires. We run them online (some IRL ones too!) so you just need an internet connection to join. It is ideal for anyone who is struggling, especially for when leaving the house is sometimes an impossible mission.
Well, that doesn’t mean you have to be alone. Join an OpenCampfire from anywhere in the world, at any time. We’re here with you!
“Hi! I’m Eleanor – I was inspired to create OpenCampfire from my own lived experience. I struggled with feeling lonely, often unable to make it to in-person events. I found helpful peer groups online but quickly saw a way to make the experience more powerful!”