Congratulations and good luck to our new student peer supporters!
Published: 31 January 2018
Congratulations and good luck to our new student peer supporters!
On 17 January the School Peer Support Network was officially launched. The Network is made up of eight undergraduate students from across the School, who went through a selection process and and undertook 30 hours of training. This was conducted by Sharon Kretschmer and Eric Medcalf from Counselling and Psychological Services, who commented that the students were a 'credit to the University.' Before presenting the peer supporters with their certificate and School hoodie, Professor Michele Burman, Head of School, described how this was a fantastic idea and how great it was that SSPS is one of the pioneers of this initiative.
Our peer supporters are students who are interested in providing a listening ear to their fellow students, and provide emotional and practical support. Through their training, our peer supporters developed confidence in social and communication skills, and enhanced their listening and appropriate assertiveness skills. They also learned how to manage crisis situations and help others to make decisions without giving advice. The students have committed to being available for at least two terms in their role, and will continue to attend fortnightly supervision to ensure they are not acting as counsellors or giving up too much of their time.
It is hoped that the peer support programme will be as much of a benefit to our new peer supporters as it will be to their fellow students who use the Network.
'It is a very rewarding experience, made even better by the strong support that we, as peer supporters, received from the hard-working staff in the School of Social and Political Sciences.'
Isabelle Hartung, Peer Supporter
'I believe this programme can help people if anybody feel like they are struggling as they will be speaking to somebody relatable and, often, going through the same things.'
Louisa MacDonald, Peer Supporter
'I believe that this programme offers students a safe place to go to when they are not sure who else to talk to.'
Holly Hendrie, Peer Supporter
For the programme to be as successful as possible, we need staff to support it and let their students know about it. They can be contacted on socpol-peersupport@glasgow.ac.uk. The network will have a dedicated School webpage and facebook page coming soon.
First published: 31 January 2018
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