How to Sit With Someone
Peer Support Skills for Connection & Mental Health
Now endorsed by Peer Support Canada!
“John F. Gerrard’s How to Sit With Someone is a thoughtful, accessible resource that reflects the heart of peer support: being present, listening with curiosity, and respecting each person’s experience. It offers practical encouragement to support others with care and love, without trying to fix or take over. This accurate and hopeful picture of what peer support can and should look like is a tremendous resource for anyone interested in understanding what it means to be a peer supporter." — Peer Support Canada
How do you support someone who is struggling without trying to fix them, rescue them, or say the perfect thing?
How to Sit With Someone explores the skills that make conversations safer and more useful: listening without taking over, staying curious, setting boundaries, reducing shame, and knowing when it’s time to seek more help.
This thoughtful and accessible book offers a steadier, more human way to support someone through mental health challenges.
For peer supporters, mental health workers, friends, family members, and anyone who wants to support others with more care.
Available from:
Amazon — Canada / US / UK / More
$14.99, with free shipping for Amazon Prime members
Direct from the author — Signed copy
$19.99 + $5 shipping within Canada or free local pickup.
Wholesale / bulk orders — 10 or more copies
For programs, organizations, training groups, and mental health teams, contact John at john@jfgerrard.com.
Praise for How to Sit With Someone…
“How to Sit With Someone reflects the heart of peer support: the basic, validating act of being present with another human being. Gerrard’s style exudes confidence, humanity, and deep respect for lived experience, making this book feel both reassuring and practical. How to Sit With Someone is a valuable training resource for peers, health professionals, and anyone who wants to show up for others in more honest, human ways. WCPTS is honoured to use it as part of our community skills training curriculum.”
— Debbie Wiebe, WCPTS President,
Former Canadian Mental Health Association Peer Support Lead
“How to Sit With Someone gently but effectively challenges the instinct to fix, advise, or find the “right” words, emphasizing presence as the foundation of meaningful support. What stands out most is how authentic and grounded the book feels. It’s not clinical or overly structured, but shaped by real experience. Its core messages—listening without trying to solve, allowing space for silence, and respecting a person’s pace—are simple yet deeply impactful. In doing so, the book reshapes what it means to support someone: you don’t need expertise or perfect words, just empathy, patience, and humility.”
— Sandra Falconi, M.Comm.