Peer Reflections

Nurturing Wellness through Creativity and Compassion
About
Blog
Through The Lens
Resources

Peer Reflections

Nurturing Wellness through Creativity and Compassion

Welcome to Peer Reflections

At Peer Reflections, we celebrate the power of storytelling, creativity, and gratitude to illuminate paths to healing. This space is your companion on the journey toward self-discovery and emotional wellness.

Through skill-building and education in Peer Support, heartfelt storytelling in Peer Reflections, and creative inspiration in Through the Lens, we offer a compassionate space for connection and growth. Whether you’re looking for practical tools, creative encouragement, or a spark of hope, Peer Reflections is here to remind you: you are not alone.

Let’s embrace healing one step, one story, and one reflection at a time.

Peer Support

Building Skills for the Journey

Explore the power of peer support through education and practical tools. This space is dedicated to sharing mental health concepts, emotional regulation skills, and recovery-focused strategies that empower growth. Learn how small, intentional steps can create meaningful change and help you navigate life’s challenges with resilience and hope.

Peer Reflections

Stories of Hope, Resilience and Growth

Sharing the raw and real stories of resilience. These personal reflections highlight the challenges and triumphs of mental health journeys, offering relatable insights and fostering connection. Each story is a reminder that healing is a shared experience, and growth is always possible.

Through The Lens

A Journey in Art and Healing

Dive into a world of creative expression. From photography to painting, digital art to watercolors, this section showcases heartfelt creations that inspire connection and reflection. Explore how creativity can spark joy, promote healing, and uncover hidden paths to self-discovery.

Recent Posts

  • My Walk with Anger

    The Old Me You might not believe this, but, I was known for my temper—the smallest things used to set me off. Once, while enjoying a beach day with a friend, words were exchanged, and the tension between us escalated. Back then, I didn’t understand the power of emotions or how to calm myself down…

  • Emotional Regulation: Anger

    Getting to Know Anger If I were to ask you what makes you angry, you could probably come up with a long list—politics, relationships, pet peeves, and so on. Most of us can easily identify external triggers. If I were to ask what anger looks like, you might list things like furrowed brows, crossed arms,…

  • One Thing At A Time

    The winter storm stirs up wonders. Through snow and wind, bending and blowing, the very things that should be buried beneath layers of ice and frozen to the earth resurface. A perfect white canvas, now speckled with autumn’s remnants. Sometimes, healing feels like this. A storm blows through, uncovering things we thought we had buried.…

  • Box Office Gratitude

    I’m going to be a bit vulnerable today. When it comes to TV shows and movies, I tend to stick with old favorites. Even my kids can predict the general order of what I’ll choose to watch—Gilmore Girls, How I Met Your Mother, Friends, New Girl, and documentaries on Earth, wildlife, Egypt, and space. It’s…

  • Exploring Emotional Regulation

    A Journey Through Core Emotions For the next several weeks, we’ll be exploring emotional regulation through primary emotions: anger, happiness, sadness, and fear. These emotions are widely recognized as the most universal emotions. Of course, emotions are complex and layered, but these will provide a firm foundation for understanding how we experience and regulate them.…

  • Violet Veil

    Art has always been my sanctuary, my solace, and my voice when words fail to capture the complexity of my emotions. “Violet Veil” emerged from a moment of profound reflection. The interplay of vibrant purples and reds in this image reflects the layers of emotion I was experiencing: the deep shadows of pain interwoven with…

  • Love/Hate Relationship with Emotions

    I continue to have a love/hate relationship with emotions. Logically, I know that emotions help us figure out our needs, and I love that. It’s something I am continually learning, as each emotion and situation has its own nuances. Emotions are complex, and I often find myself lost in them. But I’m grateful that I…

  • Emotional Regulation Myths

    Regulating our emotions is something we’ve been doing since we were babies. Back then, it was purely instinctive—crying when we were hungry, cold, or gassy. Our caregivers had to play a guessing game to figure out what we needed. Over time, we learned to smile, laugh, and eventually talk—developing new ways to express ourselves. But…

  • Through The Lens: Ice & Emotions

    Through the Lens: Ice and Emotions The ice on Lake Superior can do some pretty impressive things. Waves push shards onto the shore, shifting and moving them miles down the coast in a matter of days—or even hours. The ice on Lake Superior is both unstable and magnificent at the same time. With camera in…

  • Gratitude Through Vulnerability

    Relearning Emotions During my recovery and fight against mental illness, I had to break down my version and definition of what emotions were. They were labeled poorly—shaped by unhealthy core beliefs and the lessons imprinted on me as a young child. My understanding of emotions, molded by these flawed beliefs, was fundamentally broken. The beliefs…