Peer Power, Book One

Workbook: Becoming an Effective Peer Helper and Conflict Mediator

Judith A. Tindall

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2008
• eBook ISBN: 9781135897130
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

The Peer Power Program is a peer training program designed for middle, high school, and higher education students, focusing on 8 core skills: Attending, Empathizing, Summarizing, Questioning, Genuineness, Assertiveness, Confrontation, and Problem Solving. Through a series of exercises, games, and self-awareness techniques, youth and adults involved in the program can gain the basic communication and mediation skills necessary to effectively help their peers.

Peer Power, Book One, Workbook brings the participating students through first of all understanding their role as a peer helper, understanding themselves based on much of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and the Asset Building Model. Next, it takes the participant through eight core skills. The last part of the book indicates strategies for implementing peer work into practice. These strategies include limits setting through ethical guidelines, taking care of themselves, conflict resolving skills and putting peer helping into action. The Workbook provides clear instructions for the skills-focused, guided exercises, in a format that is accessible and enjoyable for students in the Peer Power Program.

CHAPTER 1

Welcome to the World of Helping Others!

You are beginning a training program that could change your life for the better in some rather unique ways. You are going to learn how to be of significant help to other people. When you have learned the skills taught throughout this training, you will also find that you are helping yourself in exciting and interesting ways.

Studies have indicated that once you learn these skills, they become life skills that you can apply with your work and personal life. When people have a concern, they frequently talk to peers and then perhaps to professional mental health workers. For this reason, you can assist your peers in a variety of ways, provided that you learn some helping skills.

The training you are starting probably is different from anything you have ever attempted.

The question you may ask is, “How can I learn these skills?” Well, you will learn how to hear what your friends are really saying when they express their feelings. You also will learn effective ways in which you can respond to what they tell you—to respond in ways that will help them deal with their problems more effectively. You will learn how to better express your own thoughts and feelings, how to be understood more clearly, and how to reduce the trouble that often comes from telling someone the way you feel. Another skill you will learn is how to confront others yet maintain good feelings in the relationship. Also you will learn during the training program how to help others learn to solve problems and put those solutions into action. You will find yourself, as a result of your skills, being sought after to help others solve conflicts. You might be asked at home, school, or your workplace to help solve conflicts. The end result is that you will become a natural helper in a variety of situations and perhaps a more caring person. With these basic skills, you will be better able to do many things as a helper—listen to others oneon-one, answer the phone in a drop-in center, lead a discussion group or a classroom group, train others in listening skills, perform all kinds of people-helping activities, be a mediator, tutor, or a more effective community volunteer.

The total training program is designed to help you become a better friend, helper, and person. You will learn how to relate to others in ways that will create friendships, develop helping skills, and cause you to value yourself and others more. Ultimately, the program will create a more caring and friendly school, workplace, and/or community that is focused on helping as opposed to aggression and conflict.

Peer-helper training is more than the kind of training in which you sit and listen to a trainer lecture. First, the trainer will explain and demonstrate the new skill to be learned. Second, you will become a helper and practice the skill with other trainees acting as helpers and raters. Third, you will receive feedback from the raters as to how well you performed the skill being practiced and learned and finally you will apply this to your daily life. This book, Peer Power, Book One, Workbook: Becoming an Effective Peer Helper and Conflict Mediator, contains information and exercises so that you can become prepared and practice the skills.

To learn peer-helping skills, you must be involved actively in what is happening. You are encouraged to become involved—in the training, in doing the activities suggested in this book, and with the other trainees who are learning with you. Based upon the experience of others, you will be excited about learning how to relate better and help others more. How much you learn will depend upon you and how much you want to learn. An exciting experience awaits you in the weeks ahead. Best wishes in the new venture and good luck as you help yourself and others.

Chapter 2

The Power of Peers: Peers Helping Peers Training Program Overview

“Peers helping peers” has been expanding at a rapid pace in the last several years. All ages (youth and adults) are learning how to better help their peers—people who share related values, experiences, and lifestyles, and who are comparable in age. At times, older peers help younger peers.

Peer helping is the process of helping another person. For example, an individual can participate in a one-to-one helping relationship, or in group relationships, as a tutor, mediator, educator, or as a group leader, discussion leader, advisor, volunteer in the community, support group leader, or in some other interpersonal helping role.

Peer helping has been cited as one of the most effective prevention strategies available. The reason for its effectiveness is not just learning helping behaviors, but putting them into action and practicing the skills learned. Examples of such activities include preventing STDs and HIV/AIDS, literacy problems, health and safety issues, teen pregnancy, conflicts, gang warfare, dropping out of school, community problems, and conflicts and crises in the workplace.

Those who participate in peer programs go by various names; for example, in many colleges they are called peer leaders, peer educators, or mentors. In high schools, they are sometimes called peer assistant leaders (PALS), students helping students, mentors, tutors, health educators, or natural helpers. In middle schools, they often go by a variety of names, such as peer helpers, peer facilitators, and peer mediators. At the elementary school level, they are sometimes called peers helping peers or peacekeepers. In the community, they may be called neighbors helping neighbors. In business and industry, they may be called volunteers, staff outreach support providers, lay helpers, or mentors. In the faith community, they may be called peer ministers. Each program has its own unique name.

In today’s world it is important to know how to relate to others of different cultures. Often, vast differences exist among cultures. For example, you may be a member of a given race but, depending upon the area in which you grew up, your values, concepts, and religion may be different from another person of your race who had different childhood experiences.

A peer helper refers to a person who assumes the role of a helping person with contemporaries or younger people. The term peer denotes a person who shares related values, experiences, and lifestyle, and is approximately of the same age.

You will have the fun of learning these skills with others. This training program includes not just you, but others with whom you will interact and share ideas, feelings, and concerns. You will practice the role of helper at times, of helpee at times, and, at other times, you will be a rater. As rater you will observe helper–helpee communication during practice. You will be able to try skills and watch others try the same skills. You will receive feedback—that is, information from others (raters) about how they perceive your skills and how you might improve those skills. You, too, will be a rater, giving constructive feedback to others in your group. The rater will provide feedback as to the quality, accuracy, and effectiveness of the helping responses given by the helper. After feedback is received, the skill can be practiced again for improvement.

Through the POWER of PEERS, a more caring community is created. If we look at the word power, we can see the strength of an effective peer-helping program in your school, community, or workplace.

P—A peer is a person who shares related values, experiences, and lifestyle.

O—Ownership implies that the peer has developed the helping skills and has some stake in the impact of the peer-helping program.

W—The wealth of a peer refers to the value of peers as assets and resources to help others.

E—Peers empower others.

R— With these skills comes the responsibility given to the peer helper to carry out the peer-helping program.

Chapter 3

Roles for Peer Helpers

Peer helpers are functioning effectively in various settings, including schools, churches, teen and crisis centers, clubs and community organizations, workplaces, churches, health centers, and other community agencies engaged in helping through interpersonal relationships. In schools, peer helpers work with other students in both groups and one-to-one relationships. The peer helper can be a vital assistant to the mental health professional by extending helping services to more students than could be served by the professional alone.

If the peer helpers have good helping skills, the roles they play are almost endless.

The most obvious role for a peer helper is in a one-to-one interpersonal relationship. Talking with others about their problems; mentoring someone new to the organization; talking with disruptive students; referring peers to other sources of help in the community; giving information about drugs, sex, and health and safety issues; mediating; crisis listening; and helping others with their school and workplace problems are types of assistance given by peer helpers on a one-to-one basis.

Peer helpers are also effective in group settings. They can offer assistance as group leaders for support groups and discussion groups, or as larger group leaders serving as health educators, assistants to health educators, teachers of mediation skills to other students, or communication skills trainers in the classroom. Peer helpers also can confront other peers in areas of alcohol and drug abuse and get them to seek professional help.

Some of the educational functions peer helpers can perform are tutoring students in academic areas, helping students prepare for state tests, serving as readers for handicapped students, and helping younger students develop academic skills through tutoring.

Peer helpers can assist in many guidance activities. Some of these involve working in an organized manner with new students, employees, members in nursing homes, or serving as a special friend. They can work with persons in the career center and assist students and others with many of the computer programs now available.

The need for peer helpers and opportunities available are tremendous in clubs and community organizations, or in any setting where interpersonal relationships are essential. Peer-helper training as outlined in this book will enable people of all ages to better help not only their peers but also themselves.

In church settings, peer helping is meeting vital needs because of increased demand by church members for help. Those who have completed peer-helper training increase the resources of people who are competent in human relationship communication and other interpersonal concerns. Often in church settings, small groups of people are formed and individuals can meet in open, informal, face-to-face situations characterized by warmth and intimacy. In this setting, the lay helper can make a major contribution. Peer helpers can assist in religious education similar to teaching roles in public and private schools. They can participate in outreach programs for nonmembers, such as in drop-in centers. They can provide helping in many ways, such as by gi...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Rating Scales
• List of Rating Flow Sheets
• Chapter 1 Welcome to the World of Helping Others!
• Chapter 2 The Power of Peers: Peers Helping Peers Training Program Overview
• Chapter 3 Roles for Peer Helpers
• Unit A Setting the Stage
• Unit B Developing Basic Helping Skills
• Unit C Implementing A Program
• Additional Readings
• Author