With-you - Shoulder-to-Shoulder Podcast EP 26: Pain, Power & Peer Support

Ryiah Beesley-Gibson on Recovery, Identity & Starting Again

Shoulder to Shoulder is a collection of inspiring conversations about the positive impact of peer support.

Ryiah Beesley Gibson 1

What happens when a single moment changes everything — your body, your identity, your future?

In this moving episode of Shoulder to Shoulder, Cate speaks with Ryiah Beesley-Gibson — a mental health practitioner, trauma survivor, and now a passionate peer supporter.

Just weeks before starting a new job in crisis mental health care, Ryiah sustained a catastrophic hip injury while travelling in

Bali - setting off a long, painful recovery and a complete reimagining of her life.

Now training as a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and volunteering with Day One Trauma Support, Ryiah shares her honest reflections on recovery, anger, meaning-making, and how peer support offered a vital turning point when everything else felt lost.

We discuss:

Navigating a traumatic injury far from home
The emotional and physical cost of delayed recovery
Identity, activity, and what happens when you lose both
Turning pain into purpose through peer support.
The intersection between clinical care and lived experience
Why peer support isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s essential

Whether you’re in the early stages of recovery, supporting someone through trauma, or working in healthcare — Ryiah’s story is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we meet each other as equals.