Introduction to Peer Support with Dr. Byron Greenberg

Peer supporters are a vital component of any contemporary department. Your decision to be a peer supporter is a statement about you and your department’s choice of you as a peer supporter. It is a confirmation that you're made of the right stuff. 

Peer supporters are volunteers from all parts of a department and from all positions. They exist to help others in their department in seeking help with emotional, family, and work challenges. Peer supporters are listeners. They listen to the challenges of others and help guide people in making good decisions in dealing with their challenges. They don’t make decisions for people; they only help guide them in making their own decisions.

Understanding the personal challenges of others is difficult enough, but to also understand the psychological reasoning behind those challenges requires education and training. That is where this course can help.

This course will introduce you to the history of the peer support program and the duties of a peer supporter and provide an introduction to the psychology of human behavior, specifically traumatic coping mechanisms. This training will help you to know how to help others, why to help others, and when to refer them to get professional help.

Be aware that during this course, you will learn more about yourself. This is good, as those who best understand themselves are then better able to help others.