Emmaus Spiritual Peer Support offers peer-led groups for men and women living with mental health challenges, as well as caregivers supporting loved ones.
Rooted in the compassion of Jesus Christ and Catholic spiritual practice, our groups are prayerful spaces of listening, sharing, and mutual support. We do not provide counselling or therapy, but walk alongside one another in faith while encouraging connection to appropriate supports when needed.
Groups meet monthly with both in-person and online options.
To begin, simply complete the form below, and we’ll personally connect you with the group that best fits your situation.
Spiritual peer support focuses on shared prayer, building resiliency, walking together, moving forward towards a healthier life for ourselves and those we care for, and on discovering that Jesus Christ walks with us in the midst of it all.
We currently have four Emmaus Support Groups operating within the province of Saskatchewan, including:
Emmaus Support for Caregivers
These groups are open to anyone offering accompaniment and support to others living with mental heath challenges. Emmaus caregiver support groups focus on building resiliency in caregivers so that they are better equipped to walk with those they love in their struggles.
We currently have two groups operating in the province of Saskatchewan.
- Our Regina group meets once a month from September to June. This group also offers remote access through Zoom for those outside of Regina or otherwise unable to attend in person.
- Our Saskatoon group meets once a month for in-person meetings in Saskatoon.
For information on meeting frequency, days and times, for either of these groups, please contact us using the form below.
Emmaus Women’s Support
Emmaus Women’s Support offers a welcoming, compassionate space for women living with mental health challenges. This group meets online once per month, providing a gentle space for sharing and support. For information on meeting days and times, please contact us using the form below.
Emmaus Men’s Support
We are actively seeking to establish spiritual peer support groups for men living with mental health challenges. These groups would offer friendly, compassionate spaces to share, be heard, and support one another in faith and accompaniment. If you are interested in participating or helping to facilitate, please contact us using the form below. Guidance and training are provided.
Emmaus Spiritual Peer Support groups are an exclusively peer-led ministry made up of individuals who experience mental health challenges, as well as those who accompany and support them. Our groups do not offer and are not a replacement for professional counselling, therapy or clinical advice.
If you would like more information on our groups and whether our peer support gatherings might be helpful in your particular situation, or if you are interested in starting an Emmaus Mental Health Ministry in your parish, deanery or pastoral area for specific needs, please contact us using the form below:
What happens at an Emmaus support meeting?
Emmaus meetings operate using a strengths-based spiritual peer support model of shared facilitation, learning, support, and prayer. The following is meant to provide you with a short outline of what you can expect when you meet new companions at an Emmaus meeting.
All participants agree to follow the following guidelines to ensure a safe, judgment-free space is accessible for all: Emmaus Group Guidelines
Prayer: Meetings begin with prayer led by one of our support group members.
10-second Check: After prayer, we do what we call our ’10-second check’. This is a quick round-table where participants share what kind of spiritual, mental, and physical state they are bringing with them as the meeting starts. Participants may be invited to evaluate their need for sharing that evening using a 1-5 scale with 1 = to feeling well and little need to share and 5 = to experiencing a high need for sharing and support. This allows the group to balance sharing needs for the evening.
Introduce New members: We take a small bit of time to introduce any new participants for the evening.
Shared Learning: or Prayer We then introduce a topic of shared prayer, learning or discussion. This may involve a member sharing a new resource, shared group discussion on a previously agreed-upon topic, a guest speaker, or various methods of contemplative prayer. We will generally allow up to 30 mins for this segment of the meeting.
Group Sharing: After the shared learning segment has been completed, we allow time for participants to share about a situation or experience they feel they need to share. Other participants are committed to listening without judgment to whatever is shared (and frankly, as we often remark on, given our own lived experiences, it would be a challenge to scandalize anyone!). Other participants will not seek to offer advice or try to ‘fix’ any issues. What we can do is offer each other a non-judgemental listening ear, and share our own lived experiences; what worked and what did not, for us.
Prayer Intentions: As the meeting draws to a close, participants share particular prayer needs for the coming month. members commit to praying for these intentions in the weeks between meetings. Prayer intentions are gathered and emailed out to the rest of the support group. This includes those who were unable to attend so that they also have an opportunity to request prayers as well as pray for others.
Prayer for Next Meeting: Participants volunteer to lead either opening or closing prayers for the next meeting.
Closing prayer: Is led by one of the meeting participants.
Be a Gentle Presence in Someone’s Storm: Mental Health First Aid
Emmaus Support Mental Health Ministries 