Name: _gilbert cal_______________________________________ Independence Junior

College
Program: _business management _________ PEER COUNSELING PROGRAM Date:
___________________

INDEPENDENCE JUNIOR COLLEGE ADVANCED PEER COUNSELING PROGRAM

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“Counseling is helping normal people cope with normal
problems.” – Dr. Allen Ivey

I.J.C. PEER COUNSELING PROGRAM AT A GLANCE

Peer counseling has become more prevalent in high schools, junior colleges, colleges and
universities in Belize and the world. The I.J.C. Peer Counseling Program prepares you for life!

Peer counseling is a group of qualified student counselors trained to address a broad range of
topics by providing one-on-one and/or group confidential support to students. Peer
counselors offer an encouraging atmosphere where students can talk openly about issues,
challenges and accompanying feelings. Peer counselors help students develop solutions to
their problems through the use of active listening, open dialogue and practical coping skills.
 
Peer counselors are not professionals. They are “peer” counselors who help students through
supportive interactions. The goal is to enable students to discover their own solutions to
some of life’s challenges. All peer counselors at the junior college level undergo training to
address the common problems of junior college aged people, while more complicated
problems are referred to the junior college counselor(s) for a more clinical and/or pastoral
approach.
 
Please note that peer counseling services are completely free and confidential.

The two basic models of peer counseling can be described as students trained to help
troubled students in their school (open), and troubled students trained to help themselves
(closed). Peer counselors are trained in empathetic listening skills and act as a resource and
support for various junior college issues including, but not limited to: family issues, social and
emotional concerns, drug and alcohol abuse, health issues, relationships, and conflict
resolution.

What does a person do as a peer counselor? Peer counselors are compassionate guides. They
apply knowledge, use specific tools, and follow certain rules to help people get past obstacles
and reach their goals. One of the tools peer counselors use is treating others with deep
respect.

Peer counseling training is an elective high junior college program that provides a full range of
services to students, the school and innovative zones through structured in school and
outreach activities. Peer Counselors are a cross-section of students who act as peer
supporters and active listeners for their fellow students.

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The Peer Counselors Team at I.J.C. is a group of qualified student counselors solidly trained by
the Belize Family Life Association (B.F.L.A.), a branch of Planned Parenthood, U.S.A., to
address a broad range of topics by providing one-on-one and group confidential support to
students. They are “peer” counselors who help students through supportive interactions.
The peer counseling program is aimed at helping young people make sense of their feelings,
thoughts and behaviors.

MY RESPONSE: _counselling people is such a helpful way to advice people who are going
through depression, low self esteem etc, because some time they want to give up on life but
there will always be one person that will advise them to never give up and its like a therapist
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PEER COUNSELORS ARE ALSO KNOWN AS “PEER HELPERS”

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MY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT THE QUALITIES OF A PEER HELPER/PEER COUNSELOR:
_like I said its a helpful way to help people to talk and advise them to live their life better and
I receive it most from my father because he already experienced it and he is passing
everything to me so that I don’t make the same mistakes he did.
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WHAT DO YOU APPRECIATE ABOUT PEOPLE?

DIRECTIONS: Check (√) the □ in front of each character trait that you appreciate
in other people (and leave the other boxes blank), and rate how important each
checked character trait is on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is ‘not important’ and 5 is
‘very important’.

□ LISTENER yes_____ □ LEADER yes_____

□ RESPECTFUL _ of course __ □ IMPATIENT _no____

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□ COOPERATIVE __yes___ □ TIDY _no____
□ GRATEFUL __yes___ □ NERVOUS no_____
□ PATIENT __of course ___ □ HELPFUL _yes____
□ SINCERE __no___ □ INDEPENDENT yes
□ CALM _yes____ □ COMMITTED no___

□ SOCIAL __yes___ □ DEDICATED no_

□ RESPONSIBLE yes_____ □ OBSTINATE _no__

□ ATHLETIC yes_____ □ UNIQUE __yes___
□ THINKER yes_____ □ COURTEOUS __no___
□ ORGANIZED _yes____ □ DEVOTED _no____
□ POLITE _yes____ □ CURIOUS _no____

□ DETERMINED _no____ □UNDERSTANDING yes

□ HAPPY __no___ □ MOODY __no__
□ TALKER _no____ □ REASONABLE yes__

□ INTERESTING _no____ □ RELAXED yes___

□ ENERGETIC yes_____ □ AMBITIOUS yes___

□ THOUGHTFUL __no___ □ FRIENDLY yes__
□ CARELESS __no___ □ CREATIVE _yes_
□ COMICAL ____no_ □ ATHLETIC _yes____
□ RELAXED __yes___ □ DEPRESSED no _____
□ PROBLEM SOLVER __yes___ □ WITTY __yes ___

Name: ________________________________________ Independence Junior College

Program: __________ PEER COUNSELING PROGRAM Date: ___________________
PEER COUNSELORS & PEER COUNSELING PROGRAM
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When young people have problems, they are far more likely to discuss them with their
friends rather than their parents, teachers, pastors or other caregivers. Social media enables
young people to share life-changing events with strangers without ever talking to someone
within their own homes.

To equip young people to act as a resource to help other youth with the issues they face, the
concept of “peer counseling” was developed. Peer Counselors are students who are trained
to recognize when their peers may have a problem, listen to fellow students confidentially
and assist them with emotional, societal, and/or academic struggles. Peer Counselors do not
make decisions for others. They may suggest options or alternatives, identify consequences,
or share their experiences, but they do not give advice or tell others what to do. Peer
Counselors do not provide therapy or treatment. They are neither replacements for
professional service providers nor are they substitutes for clerical staff.

A school counselor is trained to serve as a Peer Counseling Program Coordinator, the

counselor/teacher Peer Counseling Program Coordinator in turn selects students to serve as
Peer Counselors and trains them on the peer counseling system.  They learn a set of skills –
attending, empathizing, summarizing, questioning, genuineness, assertiveness, confrontation,
problem-solving, conflict resolution and confidentiality – that assist them in meeting the
needs of their fellow students.  At Independence High School and Independence Junior
College, Peer Counselors are generally informally trained initially by the school counselor(s)
which is followed up by a comprehensive, solid and formal Peer Counselor Training Program
designed, facilitated, monitored and evaluated by the Belize Family Life Association (B.F.L.A.),
a non-government organization, a branch of the Planned Parenthood organization in the
United States of America, as the certifying agency. Student participants receive a certificate of
successful completion recognizing him/her as a trained Peer Counselor at an Award
Ceremony.

As a part of their training, Peer Counselors agree to keep the issues other students share with
them in strict confidence.  However, if a student threatens to harm him or herself, exhibits
psychotic behavior or reports abuse, the Peer Counselor must involve the Peer Counseling
Program Coordinator, a school counselor, or school administrator immediately. Further, Peer
Counselors not only assist classmates by listening empathetically, providing options for
making healthy choices, becoming advocates, and helping them get involved in campus
life. In the process of helping others improve their self-esteem, Peer Counselors can
themselves become leaders and role models.

MY RESPONSE: yes it true that most people go their closest friends to share their problem
instead of one of their family members or some counselors because friends are mostly to
understand you the most that others and that’s is why I also share my problems to my friends
and not counselors.
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 ESSENTIAL COUNSELING SKILLS

(1) ACTIVE LISTENING (6) CONNECTING & REFLECTING BACK

(2) APPROPRIATE BODY LANGUAGE (7) MUTUAL INFLUENCING
(3) INTELLIGENT QUESTIONING (8) READING NON-VERBAL BEHAVIORS
(4) PROBLEM SOLVER (9) NOT IMPOSING SUPERIORITY OR PATRONAGE
(5) DECISION MAKING (10) CONCLUDING & RECOMMENDING/REFERRAL

COUNSELING ERRORS

√ DOMINATING THE COUNSELING SESSION

√ GIVING UNNECSSARY OR INAPPROPRIATE ADVICE
√ NOT LISTENING
√ PROJECTING PERSONAL LIKES, DISLIKES, AND BIASES
√ RASH JUDGMENTS
√ STEREOTYPES
√ LOSS OF EMOTIONAL CONTROL
√ ABSENCE OF ACTION PLAN AND IMPROPER FOLLOW UP
√ USING SINGLE COUNSELING STYLE
√ NEGLECTING PRIVACY (CONFIDENTIALITY) FACTOR

BENEFITS OF COUNSELING

(1) DECREASE ABSENTEEISM (5) HELPS IN SUPERIOR DECISION MAKING

(2) IMPROVEMENT IN STUDENT PERFORMANCE (6) OBJECTIVELY UNDERSTAND SITUATION
(3) INCREASE IN STUDENT PRODUCTIVITY (7) SEE SITUATION FROM NEW PERSPECTIVE
(4) MANAGEMENT OF BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS (8) ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS

QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE PEER COUNSELOR

• EMPATHETIC • WARM • HONEST • LISTENING • UNBIASED

• UNHURRIED • RESPECTFUL • CONFIDENTIAL • ATTENTIVE • OPEN-ENDED
• UNDERSTANDABLE • AUTHORITY

MY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT THE ABOVE-MENTIONED ASPECTS OF PEER

COUNSELING: _the aspect that were listed above are really helpful in today society but some
counselors needs to understand that some people doesn’t have feelings anymore and doesn’t
care what it happing to today society. Those type of people with those type of mentality are
called sigma male/female, I could say I am a sigma male that doesn’t need counseling.
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 PEER TO PEER 
PEER COUNSELING SKILLS

MY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT THE PEER COUNSELING SKILLS ABOVE: _its the same
from the rest and yes its very good. ____________

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teenshealth.org
STRUCTURE OF PEER COUNSELING SESSION(S)

1. PRELIMINARY/INTRODUCTORY MEETING
2. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION & BUILDING RAPPORT
3. DETERMINING GOALS
4. BUILDING & IMPLEMENTING APPROACH
5. ANALYZING ACHIEVEMENT(S)
6. TERMINATION & FOLLOW-UP/REFERRAL IF APPROPRIATE

GUIDELINES FOR PEER COUNSELING SESSIONS

→ The Peer Counselor continues to build good relationship(s) with the student counselee(s).
→ The Peer Counselor must maintain the confidentiality of the information provided by the
student counselee [except in cases of major issues including self-harm and/or harm to others
where mandatory reporting to the school counselor is required by professional ethics].
→ The Peer Counselor needs to show that he/she is empathetic and very concerned about
the welfare of his/her student counselee(s).
→ The Peer Counselor can use open questions, reflection, paraphrase, clarification, and other
basic counseling skills.
→ The main purpose of the Peer Counseling process is to allow the Peer Counselor to
understand the student counselee(s) and to help student counselee(s) achieve self-
consciousness/self-awareness in the meeting of the student counselee(s)’s counseling
need(s).

MY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF AND GUIDELINES FOR PEER
COUNSELING SESSIONS: peer counsellors use their own stories in helping others develop

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hope and improve their lives. Adults, youth, parents or legal guardians can provide
support to their families.
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Name: ________________________________________ Independence Junior College
Program: __________ PEER COUNSELING PROGRAM Date: ___________________

PEER SUPPORT: YOU PLAY A ROLE IN PREVENTION AND PEER ASSISTANCE

Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional support, social
support or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of
trained supporters (although it can be provided by peers without training), and can take a
number of forms such as peer mentoring, reflective listening (reflecting content and/or
feelings), or counseling. Peer support is also used to refer to initiatives where fellow students,
colleagues, members of self-help organizations and others meet, in person or online, as
equals, to give each other support on a reciprocal basis.
Peer support is distinct from other forms of social support in that the source of support is a
peer, a person who is similar in fundamental ways to the recipient of the support; their
relationship is one of equality. A peer is in a position to offer support by virtue of relevant
experience: he or she has "been there, done that" and can relate to others who are now in a
similar situation. Trained peer support workers such as peer support specialists and peer
counselors receive special training and are required to obtain Continuing Education Units
(ongoing training from time to time), like clinical staff. Some other trained peer support

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workers may also be law-enforcement personnel and firefighters as well as emergency
medical responders.
MY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT PEER SUPPORT: _ its has my same thought and feeling
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UNDERLYING THEORY ABOUT PEER SUPPORT

The effectiveness of peer support is believed to derive from a variety of psychosocial

processes described best by Mark Salzer in “Psychiatric Rehabilitation Skills: Consumer-
delivered Services as a Best Practice in Mental Health Care and the Development of Practice
Guidelines” (2002): social support, experiential knowledge, social learning theory, social
comparison theory and the helper-therapy principle.

 Social Support is the existence of positive psychosocial interactions with others with
whom there is mutual trust and concern. Positive relationships contribute to positive
adjustment and buffer against stressors and adversities by offering (a) emotional
support (esteem, attachment, and reassurance), (b) instrumental support (material
goods and services), (c) companionship and (d) information support (advice, guidance,
and feedback).
 Experiential Knowledge is specialized information and perspectives that people obtain
from living through a particular experience such as substance abuse, a physical
disability, chronic physical or mental illness, or a traumatic event such as combat, a
natural disaster, domestic violence or a violent crime, sexual abuse, or imprisonment.
Experiential knowledge tends to be unique and pragmatic and when shared
contributes to solving problems and improving quality of life.
 Social Learning Theory postulates that peers, because they have undergone and
survived relevant experiences, are more credible role models for others. Interactions
with peers who are successfully coping with their experiences or illness are more likely
to result in positive behavior change.
 Social Comparison Theory means that individuals are more comfortable interacting
with others who share common characteristics with themselves, such as a psychiatric
illness, in order to establish a sense of normalcy. By interacting with others who are
perceived to be better than them, peers are given a sense of optimism and something
to strive toward.
 The Helper-Therapy Principle proposes that there are four significant benefits to those
who provide peer support: (a) increased sense of interpersonal competence as a result
of making an impact on another person's life; (b) development of a sense of equality

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 in giving and taking between himself or herself and others; (c) helper gains new
personally-relevant knowledge while helping; and (d) the helper receives social
approval from the person they help, and others.

MY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT THE UNDERLYING THEORY ABOUT PEER SUPPORT: _ its
has my same thought and feeling
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PEER SUPPORT IN SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Peer Mentoring takes place in learning environments such as schools, usually between an
older more experienced student and a new student. Peer mentors appear mainly in
secondary schools/junior colleges/colleges/universities where students moving up from a
lower educational level and school culture may need assistance in settling into the whole new
schedule and lifestyle of secondary school/junior college/college/university life. Peer
mentoring is also used in the workplace as a means of orienting new employees. New
employees who are paired with a peer mentor are twice as likely to remain in their job than
those who do not receive mentorship.

Peer Listening is a form of peer support is widely used within schools. Peer supporters are
trained, normally from within schools or universities, or sometimes by outside organizations,
such as Childline's CHIPS (Childline In Partnership With Schools) program, to be "active
listeners". Within schools, peer supporters are normally available at break or lunch times.

Peer Mediation is a means of handling incidents of bullying by bringing the victim and the
bully together under mediation by one of their peers.

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A Peer Helper in Sports works with young adults in sports such as football, soccer, track,
volleyball, baseball, cheerleading, swimming, and basketball. They may provide help with
game tactics (e.g. keeping your eye on the ball), emotional support, training support, and
social support.

MY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT PEER SUPPORT IN SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION: __its has
my same thought and feeling
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