It started with Product Therapy.
Peer Therapy exists to help people thrive, personally and professionally, through the support of their peers.
How it started
Product Therapy started in Montréal in 2018 with a simple idea: product people needed a different kind of meetup.
There were already plenty of good events for talks, panels, and networking. Those formats can be useful, but they often leave little space for the conversations people need to have: the ones that take context, nuance, and enough time to think.
Product work is full of situations that are hard to explain quickly. A new VP who has reset the direction. A roadmap that gets rewritten faster than you can build to it. A piece of technical work that is hard to justify with a number. A role that does not feel like the right fit, but might still be worth staying in.
So we tried a simpler format: a small group, no presentations, and enough time for each person to bring something real.
What we found is that people don't need more content. They need peers who understand, ask good questions, and help them see their situation from a few different angles.
“Listening to others and finding that I'm not alone… it's amazing.”
How it grew
The format kept resonating. People came for a useful conversation, and many left feeling they had found people they could actually talk to. Not just contacts. Not just advice. Peers who understood, and had something practical to offer.
As people who had experienced it moved, they wanted to recreate it in their own city. With that, Product Therapy began growing beyond Montréal.
Regardless of the city, the format has stayed the same. The groups are still small. The conversations still come from real situations. And what we share stays between us.
We have turned down a lot to keep it that way (bigger events, faster growth, etc.). Not out of principle, but because we have seen what protects the conversation and what does not.
We keep it small because that is what makes it work. We are growing carefully, one chapter at a time, so the experience can stay personal, useful, and grounded.
What we are building
Product people aren't the only ones figuring things out alone. Founders, designers and researchers have their own versions of the same questions. Peer Therapy brings the same small groups to them, and gives every group a way to keep talking after the evening.
We are trying to make the kind of space people wish existed more often, one where the conversation is actually worth being in. That is the only thing we are trying to get right. Not the scale. Not the cadence. The quality of what happens when people sit down together.
If it feels small, that is intentional.
Four things we keep coming back to.
Small on purpose
In front of thirty people, you tend to speak in generalities. With six, you can get into what actually happened, ask questions, and hear from everyone.
Speak from experience
What you've tried, what surprised you, what you'd do differently. Your experience might be exactly what someone else needs to hear.
What we share stays between us
It's easier to speak openly when you're among people who understand and respect what's shared.
Everyone has something to contribute
Nobody has all the answers, and nobody comes empty-handed. Our experiences are different, and that's what makes learning from one another worthwhile.
The people make the difference.
Peer Therapy wouldn't exist without the people who share their experiences, listen with care, moderate groups, organize events, and open their doors.
Each chapter is run by one to three organizers. They're peers too, doing this in their off hours.
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Different jobs. Surprisingly familiar challenges.
Product managers
You own a roadmap, answer to a lot of people, and make calls when there's no clear right answer.
Founders
You're building something of your own and making decisions with half the information.
UX designers and researchers
You speak for the user while deadlines, roadmaps, and stakeholders pull in different directions.
Something else
Tell us what you do and where you are.
Come meet your peers.
Bring a situation, a decision, or a question. We'll talk it through together.
Request to join