Peer Support · With Justin McDermott

Your Own Compass

One-to-one Peer Support & Navigation

Your voice. Your choices. Your direction.

I’m Justin. I bring my own lived experience and years of peer work to a space where you can be heard and begin with what matters to you.

We can talk things through and consider your next steps together, at your pace.

Enquire about peer support →

Enquiries welcome. Session arrangements are being finalised.

Justin sitting on the grass as a white horse lowers its head towards his cap. — Justin McDermott

Room for your own understanding

Your experience does not have to fit my language

You do not need to share my language, beliefs or interpretation of experience. You can bring your own understanding, or be unsure. Our conversations begin with you, your choices and what is useful in your life.

The Dream State Compass grows from my own search for meaning and ways of living with experience. It informs the curiosity and respect I bring to peer work.

Explore the ideas behind the Compass →

A relationship, and practical support

Finding a direction that is yours

I bring five years’ experience working in mental health, alongside my own lived experience, to peer support. Since I was 25, I have been exploring my experiences and finding ways to build a life beyond the mental health system.

There can be room to talk about what you are carrying, find language that fits, and work through the practical things that feel difficult to face alone.

Being heard

Exploring experiences, meaning and identity in your own words. Making space for uncertainty, distress, hope and the things that matter in your everyday life.

Choices and next steps

Preparing for appointments and difficult conversations, putting your questions and preferences into words, finding relevant support, and reflecting afterwards on what to do next.

Connection and expression

Exploring ways to reconnect with people, community or creative expression. Writing and art can be part of this if they are useful to you.

Support through compulsory treatment

Navigating Community Treatment Orders (CTOs)

Being on a CTO can raise difficult questions about choice, treatment and how to be heard. Peer support can offer a place to prepare, reflect and work out what matters to you through that process.

Preparing for conversations with your treating team and for Mental Health Tribunal hearings.
Putting your questions, wishes and treatment preferences into words, and keeping track of what you want to raise.
Reflecting on meetings and decisions, and considering your next steps.
Finding independent advocacy and legal support when you need help with rights, advice or representation.

My role is peer support and preparation. I do not provide legal advice, act as a legal representative, or promise a particular treatment or tribunal outcome.

In Victoria, Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) offers independent support with having a say about treatment. Its tribunal preparation guide also explains how to seek legal support.

Clear expectations

What this support offers

Peer support draws on lived experience and a relationship built together. It is not psychological therapy, diagnosis, medical or legal advice, or an emergency service.

Before any session, we would discuss whether the support fits your needs, what you want from it, and the arrangements for fees, privacy, confidentiality and its limits.

Enquiries welcome

Start with a conversation

Enquiries are open while I finalise the service arrangements. Online and in-person sessions are planned; availability, location and fees are still to be confirmed.

Send a brief enquiry. A few words about what you are looking for and your preferred format are enough.
I’ll reply about what may be possible. We can discuss whether the support fits, along with availability, fees and where or how we would meet.
You decide whether to go ahead. We would discuss the arrangements, privacy and confidentiality before agreeing to any session.

An enquiry does not commit you to sessions.

Enquire about Your Own Compass →

Please keep your first enquiry brief. There is no need to send clinical records or a detailed personal history.