Abstract
This article was written in the context of introspection about the functions of social workers working with peer support workers. It discusses user-oriented interventions based on the positioning and practical applications of the wisdom of service users as well as the knowledge acquired by professional social workers. Service users construct personal knowledge and values based on direct experiences and rights-based approaches. They use this so-called lived experience to offer peer support. Conversely, professional social workers regard their occupational competence in terms of the application of privileged, systematic, scientific knowledge and technical rationality. This article argues that dialogue-based reflection-in-action between social workers can posit ways of enabling the horizontal engagement of peer support practices. Their attained knowledge can be conveyed to advance the understanding of service users and can contribute to more appropriate user-centered interventions. In addition, dialogue-based reflection-in-action between social workers and peer support workers could extend the meaning of professionalism and enact a new professional identity in social work. Such a technique could also deliver a better grasp of power-control issue through an informed exchange of ideas and beliefs based on mutual respect and tolerance.
