GPS Group Peer Support

GPS Group Peer Support is a mental health organisation founded in 2018 and based in Northampton, Massachusetts. It leads a national movement in the United States to bring accessible, trauma-responsive and culturally-rooted group mental health support to diverse communities. Its GPS model combines evidence-based therapeutic modalities - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction - with peer connection, and is delivered within communities rather than in clinical settings alone. Ninety per cent of participants find GPS groups helpful, and 97% would recommend them to others.

The organisation's work spans several programmes. MASStrong provides group mental health and peer support for healthcare workers; GPS for Recovery is oriented toward recovery communities; and specialised groups are tailored for veterans, refugees, parents and LGBTQ+ communities. A GPS training programme equips clergy, lay leaders, peer specialists and clinical providers to deliver group mental health support in their own communities, extending the model beyond the organisation's direct reach. The communities served include faith-based and community organisations, veterans services, refugee and immigrant services, addiction recovery, LGBTQ+ services, and parenting and family support.

GPS Group Peer Support describes its approach as community-centred, holding that healing happens in community. The organisation works to destigmatise and depathologise mental health care, respects participants' backgrounds and real-life experiences, and places mental health care directly in the hands of communities. It trains non-clinical community members alongside clinical providers, and operates on a collaborative, equity-oriented ethos.