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.

“As a healthcare professional, I have often made the mistake of treating people according to their illnesses. Although such approaches are evidence-based and goal-oriented, How to Sit With Someone offers the sort of empathy and companionship that people genuinely find therapeutic. In a world of prescriptive practice, often what we really need is someone to come alongside.”

— Dr. David Moore

“Helping by listening, how hard can it be? What first seemed obvious to me turned out to be far more complex. How to Sit With Someone brings clarity to that complexity, drawing on Gerrard’s lived experience on both sides of peer support to create a kind and refreshing read.”

— Clement Bezemer, MPhil