What do peer counselors do

You will receive a welcome invitation from TIA Washington to access the courses. Peer Support Program Email: peersupportprogram hca. Skip to main content. Become a behavioral health provider.

Early psychosis. Family initiated treatment FIT. Medicaid documentation support. Designated crisis responders DCR. Intensive residential treatment IRT teams. Peer support. Substance use disorder prevention and mental health promotion. Substance use treatment. Alcohol use treatment. Medications for opioid use disorder MOUD. Opioid treatment programs OTPs.

Brief interventions. Referrals to treatment. Suicide prevention resources. What is peer counseling? How do I become a certified peer counselor?

Where do I go to receive training? Resources for peers Mental health peer support designline Resources for mental and emotional well-being Certified behavioral health organizations BHOs reimbursement for SUD peer services As of July 1, , peer support services are now included in both the mental health and substance use sections of the Medicaid State Plan. Read the SUD peer services fact sheet How does the program work? What do peer counselors do?

Peer counselors, under the supervision of a mental health or substance use disorder professional and as part of a health care team, may: Assist an individual or family in identifying services and activities that promote recovery and lead to increased meaning and purpose.

Assist individuals and families in developing their own goals. Share their own recovery stories that are relevant and helpful in overcoming the obstacles faced by individuals and families. Promote personal responsibility for recovery. Assist in a wide range of services to regain control and success in their own lives, such as developing supportive relationships, self-advocacy, stable housing, education and employment.

Serve as an advocate. Model skills in recovery and self-management. Complete documentation about their services for Medicaid and employer requirements. Are there employment opportunities? What are the requirements to become certified? Discuss the basics of collaborative leadership. Explain the benefits of working in teams and what the primary building blocks of successful teams are. Explain how a team leader encourages and facilitates effective teamwork.

Explain the four stages teams go through as they mature. Unit 8 : Group Leadership Peer counselors are often called upon to lead peer groups. Educate others regarding the benefits of participating in counseling groups. Describe three types of peer counseling groups and the primary focus of each type. Provide a general job description of a group facilitator.

Name three group stages of development and discuss the expected behaviors of group members during each of the stages. Define group cohesion, and name two or more ways to facilitate group cohesion during each stage of group development. Identify six problems that may arise during group sessions and suggest one or two ways of addressing each one.

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This is what peer counseling is all about. The peer counselor is that individual who has attained disability related experiences, knowledge, and coping skills, to assist others with their disability related experiences.

The goal of peer counseling is directed toward enabling the individual to meet personal needs in order to more fully function and take control of his life, in his home, community and employment. In order to understand peer counseling fully, one should look at it in the context of the Independent Living model. This model is a concept or an expression of people's desires to be in control of their own lives. This model can be understood more fully when compared to the rehabilitation model.

The rehabilitation model, to put things very simply, states that if changes or adjustments are to be made they happen within the client. The counselor working within the Independent Living model would look at the problems from outside the client - that is looking at the environment and helping the client determine what in the environment needs to be changed in order for the client to function more fully.

Peer counseling has many advantages to the client, the counselor and the community. For many peer counsellors this position can be a vehicle for career development. The community, of course, is helped to form a positive image of the disabled. More important, the service to persons with disabilities is improved allowing these persons to take up a more meaningful role in the community.

The development of peer counsellors would appear to be the grassroots answer to a growing technology, allowing people to grow closer together rather than apart. It should be pointed out that not all individuals can be peer counsellors.

The good counselor is a person who can show empathy toward other people's problems, be able to listen, communicate, be direct, sincere, be able to share personal experiences, be trusting, and have knowledge and skill that would be helpful. The counselor should have a broad range of good personal characteristics. In addition to the above a peer counselor must have a 'rights bearing' attitude. This involves an understanding and acceptance of the fact that people with disabilities have the same rights and responsibilities as all other individuals.

That is, they have the right to make contracts, hold a drivers license, make a will, marry, adopt or bear children, hold and convey property, equal educational rights, equal employment opportunity, and an opportunity to vote and participate in political affairs.

This suggests that the peer counselor must have a fair knowledge about many issues relative to disabilities. It is important to know when and when not to act. Weight loss. Social withdrawal.

Loss of interest in people and activities previously enjoyed. Employed or has finances. Family or friends willing to help.

Physician, clergy, social agencies or other professional help available. Financial problems. Family and friends available but unwilling to help. Has nowhere to turn.

No family, friends, employment or agencies for help. Expresses good reason for living. Is upset about suicidal thoughts. Reasons for dying are equal or outweigh reasons for living. Ambivalent about suicidal thoughts. Sees no reason for living. Makes no attempt to keep suicidal thoughts under control. Has made attempts to work things out for himself. Has sought help or is seeking help of others.

Has not sought help because problem is thought to be beyond solution. Alternates between feelings of anger and rejection, and feelings of responsibility and desire to help. Denial of person's need for help.

No feelings of concern. Does not understand. Can express rage, anger, hostility and revenge verbally. Shame, guilt, embarrassment, agitation, tension, anxiety. Disorganized, confused. Has hallucinations or delusions. Loss of control and judgment. Future looks bleak, despondent, hopeless, helpless, worthless.

Change in appetite. Decline in job performance real or imagined. SF - Suicide Prevention, Inc. MYTH: A person commits suicide without warning. FACT: Although suicide can be an impulsive act, it is often thought out and communicated to others, but people ignore the clues. MYTH: People who talk about suicide never kill themselves. FACT: Most suicides - 8 out of 10 - have given definite clues and warnings about their suicidal intentions.

MYTH: Suicide is a random happening; there are few cases. There are twice as many suicides as homicides. MYTH: Suicide strikes much more often among the rich - or, conversely, it occurs almost exclusively among the poor.

FACT: Suicide shows little prejudice to economic status. It is represented proportionately among all levels of society. MYTH: More women than men commit suicide. FACT: Although women attempt suicide twice as often as men, men commit suicide twice as often as women.

MYTH: Suicidal persons really want to die so there's no way to stop them. FACT: Suicidal persons are often undecided about living or dying right up to the last minute; many gamble that others will stop them before it's too late. FACT: People who want to kill themselves feel that way only for a limited time; the "crisis-period" passes. FACT: No suicide case has only one victim; wives, husbands, lovers, children and friends all suffer from the loss of a suicide.

Peer Counseling Training Manual, Page 37 9. MYTH: Most suicides are caused by a single dramatic and traumatic event. FACT: Precipitating factors may trigger a suicidal decision; more typically the deeply troubled person has suffered long periods of unhappiness, is withdrawn, depressed, helpless to cope with life, has little self-respect and no hope for the future.

MYTH: Suicide is inherited, it runs in the family. FACT: Suicide is a highly individual matter - there is no genetic predisposition to self- destruction. FACT: Four out of five persons, who kill themselves have tried at least once before. FACT: Depressed individuals need attention and emotional support; encouraging them to talk about their suicidal feelings can be therapeutic as a first step. MYTH: People who commit suicide have sought medical help prior to their attempt.

FACT: Suicidal individuals often exhibit physical symptoms as part of their depression and might seek medical treatment for their physical ailments. SF Suicide Prevention, Inc. Before next week's class, take some time and answer the following questions for yourself: 1. Think about a time when you were depressed - was it a mild depression or a severe depression?

How did you feel during the depression - for example: hopeless, powerless, etc. Did it feel permanent, endless, timeless? What led up to the depression? What were the "symptoms" of the depression - for example: no appetite, no sleep, lots of sleep, fatigue, etc.? How did you get out of the depression - did you seek help? Take actions? What helped you feel better?

How do you feel when someone around you is very depressed? Do you feel hopeless, powerless, frustrated, or what?

Have you ever contemplated committing suicide? If yes, what was going on in your life at the time that may have led you to consider suicide? How did the situation that led you to consider suicide change for you? Did you seek support and help - for example: from friends, family, Suicide Prevention, a counselor? Did you ever attempt suicide? If yes, what were your feelings after the attempt? What are your values, belief systems regarding suicide?

Peer Counseling Training Manual, Page 39 The Chinese character for "crisis" is, incidentally, one which means "dangerous opportunity". I think we all perceive the "danger" in a crisis-time, but I am not always sure we perceive the -opportunity. So, let me belabor this for a moment.

Imagine that a friend of yours is in a crisis situation and you want to be helpful to him or her. We are all so hypnotized by the virtue of "being helpful" that we rarely stop to think about the fact that there are two principal ways of being helpful. One is to render services. The virtue of this is that if you are successful, you will pull your friend out the crisis like, being without a job , and he or she will be very, very grateful to you. However, the difficulty with if I may say merely rendering services is that your friend who received your help actually hasn't even a clue, when it is all over as to how you did it- And, therefore, no idea as to how to pull it off the next time that that same crisis, or one like it, occurs in his or her life.

Fortunately, there is a second way of being helpful. And that is to take tremendous care as you go through the process of helping your friend with his or her crisis, so that your friend clearly understands you are using this particular crisis to teach him or her how to solve that kind of crisis for himself or herself, even thereafter.

In order to do this, of course, you will need to use no exercises or …st-instruments which your friend does not fully understand; to undertake no step in the process without explaining to your friend what is being done, and why; and to offer him or her no additional "helpers" without explaining why you are offering them, what their virtues and limitations are, and how you found them.

I call this latter form of helpfulness Empowerment, not because that word was made popular in the late sixties, but because I don't know a better way to describe a process in which both the goal and the acknowledged outcome is that your friend becomes stronger and more in control of his or her life, rather than merely grateful or dependent.

And this, because of the way in which you get about to help him or her deal with their "dangerous opportunity. All of this is equally important, if not more so, when it is your life which has a crisis in it.

You can find help - from books or people - which merely renders you services; or you can find help which is only Empowering to you. You must set the goal. One statement that is particularly infuriating was his opinion that if a stranger happens to strike you in the face while you are upon a public sidewalk, "chances are" the stranger is schizophrenic.

Chances are Torrey doesn't know that he is talking about. I feel safer and would rather be around "schizophrenics" than many "normals" out there. Attending programs on a daily basis for 15 years and rubbing elbows with well over 1.

More violence occurs in six months in the friendly neighborhood tavern. You are even more likely to get clobbered by being part of an American family. Just ask a little kid or a woman. Most "mentally ill" people are arrested for minding their own business and are usually victims of crimes rather than perpetrators. Doc Torrey talks about rehabilitation and medication as being effective for treatment.

People get rehabilitated by being accepted, not by being rehabilitated. John G. San Francisco Bay Guardian Vol. As the result of a severe depression I found myself in Langley Porter's acute crisis unit - translate locked ward.

In the seventeen days that followed a 72 hr. My former history of valium dependency was taken into consideration and I was not given any medication until the fourth day of my stay. The anti-depressants and neuroleptics that I am taking are literally saving my life. The other claim, that patients are virtually ignored was also false in my case.

I received personal attention within a half hour from physicians and staff. It is true that all mental patients don't receive the red carpet treatment. I too have heard horror stories and may have been lucky in my choice of hospitals: I don't believe, however, that it is poor or indifferent psychiatric treatment that creates the vicious cycle of hospital hopping but rather the prejudice and stigma of being mentally ill once we return to the outside world.

What is Burnout? Webster defines Burnout as "to cause, to fail, wear-out or become exhausted by making excessive demands on energy, strength, or resources! Burnout can also be defined as to burn until the fuel is exhausted and the fire ceases. In the social services it is not a result of personal failing but a result of the work situation. Burnout individuals can be affected in three ways, emotionally, mentally, and physically.

Helping-Suggestions Here are some ways to deal with Burnout. Although we are mentioning only a few suggestions or disengaging from stressful work situations you may find other tactics that work for you. This pamphlet is the result of a research project on the phenomenon of Burnout in the social services. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of: Dr.

Donald Strong Dr. Dora Dien Dr. Vulnerability 5 4 3 2 1 c. Disability Awareness 5 4 3 2 1 d. Power and the Counseling Relationship 5 4 3 2 1 g. Independent Living Philosophy 5 4 3 2 1. Knowledge of Body Language 5 4 3 2 1 b. Use of open and closed questions 5 4 3 2 1 c. Paraphrasing 5 4 3 2 1 d. Reflection of Feeling 5 4 3 2 1 e. Summarizing 5 4 3 2 1 f. Opening a counseling session 5 4 3 2 1 g.

Closing a Counseling session 5 4 3 2 1 h. Empathetic listening 5 4 3 2 1 4. Established Rapport:. Comments: -promotes comfortable, safe setting -shows warmth, caring concern -engenders self-worth, non-judgmental -reinforces counselee's concerns as important. Appropriate, Open Ended Questions: -good timing, natural flow -minimal interruption -avoids yes-no questions -uses closed questions appropriately -avoids unfounded assumptions -avoids leading questions 3.

Body Language: -uses listening behaviors, nodding, leaning forward, etc. Referrals If Used : -avoids Problem-solving -appropriate use of resources -provides alternatives. General Hospital. We hope to expand Peer -Counseling to other sites in SF. In addition to completing the Peer Counseling Training, you must also complete the 3 session mini-series on Patients' Rights, the Shanti Project and Confidentiality.

This involves: - filling out forms at the Volunteer Office - Health screening usually takes a minimum of two weeks. If you don't have these helpful antibodies, SFGH will give you a vaccination so that you will develop a mild form of German measles and develop the antibodies. This is for your protection! Each year, you will be retested. IF you have recently received a negative TB test and have the proof in writing, bring this with you because it can shorten the amount of testing you need to have done.

Your first time going on the units, Carol will go along with you. The second time if you're ready , you'11 go with an experienced Peer Counselor. Peer Counseling happens on Wednesday evenings. On some of the units we attend community meeting, so some of the Peer Counselors come earlier than 5 pm. At about pm we go on the units. Generally we go in pairs or in groups of three. This is an informal type of Peer Counseling: we might just hang out with people, play cards, watch TV with them, etc.

At pm we'll meet off the units to share about how it went and to compile statistics. There is a monthly support group that sometimes covers business but also allows time for us to talk about issues, that are arising as we do Peer Counseling. AU are psychiatric units and all treat persons of all ethnicities regardless of WV antibody status. In addition to visiting the units on Wednesday evenings, we also lead Transition Groups on 7A and 7B. The purpose is to allow discussion and information exchange about the transition of getting onto the unit and leaving it from a Peer prospective.

Both these types of Peer Counseling require previous experience Peer Counseling on the units. Direct supervision is provided by Carol Patterson in a weekly support group and individually as requested.

The basic philosophy under which the Peer Counselor operates is the independent living philosophy: empowerment, self-help and self-advocacy. Initially we would start with 2 Peer Counselors coming together to the ward during visiting hours for 2 hours per week.