|
People often volunteer to become peer helpers because they recognize something within themselves that might be helpful to others. Maybe they typically find themselves in situations where others have sought them out for help. Maybe they want to become peer helpers because they have learned some things they want to share from their own life experiences. Or maybe others have encouraged them to get involved as a helping person because they think it will improve their ability to listen or maybe even assist them to deal with their own problems more effectively.
A story is told about the well-known psychiatrist Karl Menninger. It seems that Dr. Menninger had just completed a talk on mental health and was encouraging members of the audience to ask questions. One person piped-up, "What would you suggest a person do if that person felt like they were having a nervous breakdown?" Because of Dr. Menninger's status in the field of psychiatry, most people expected him to say, "See a psychiatrist as soon as possible." Instead, he replied: "Find someone in need, and do something to help that person."
Helping others to find their way is probably a natural and inherent trait in humans. Maybe we lose our connection to this trait as we get older, but it is always there waiting to be honed and strengthened. I remember, with some embarrassment, getting into a fight with an opposing player during a baseball game in college. We were rolling on the ground, mostly getting our uniforms dirty, while the other players were shoving each other or trying to pull various combatants apart. Our coach came over, and rather than yelling at us, said firmly, "My contact lens is missing, can you guys help me find it?" Suddenly we were all on our hands and knees cooperatively looking through the grass and dirt. It wasn't till the game was over, that the coach revealed he had lost that lens three months previously in another ball park.
Most peer programs orient their training programs to strengthen the communication skills of their peer helpers. But often peer trainers do not check out what strengths the volunteers bring with them to the training. Trainers typically start right in on a series of prepared training sessions designed to teach a variety of skills. While this is a useful direction, it has a possible unintended side effect: trainees do not get an opportunity to explore their own, natural strengths. Young people in particular may not be used to thinking of themselves as having strengths, but the same can be true for adults. Both groups may be vaguely aware of some internal propeller that is urging them to be a peer helper, but they may not have been able to articulate the extraordinary nature of these strengths.
To help volunteers learn more about their strengths, try this method. After talking about the target skill, but before carrying out the actual skill practice session, ask the participants to pair up with each other and share with each other answers to the following questions. For example purposes I will use "understanding the feelings of others" as the hypothetical target skill:
My experience with this activity is that it increases participant commitment to further learning, enhances self-esteem and confidence, and even contributes to adjusting the training session to insure it meets the needs of the participants. It doesn't take very long, and it increases attention to the natural basis for helping.