What is peer counseling?
The process of helping in which a person who is helping and the person who is getting the help belongs to the same age group or same status and has some other similar thing is usually known as peer-counseling. For example, a student taking help from another student or their class fellows or friends and or taking help from your co-workers. To make it more clear, we can understand through this example that in college or university, when students get any difficult assignment or want any help in their academic work or assignment, they usually do two things. Either they take help from their friends, or they ask for help from cheap assignment writing service. Students’ help from assignment writing services is not included in peer counseling, but the help students take from friends or classmates is included in peer counseling.
Peer-counseling includes interaction between the peer counselor and the person who is getting peer-counseling. This interaction can be a one-on-one individual conversation or interaction among the people of the group. Another important thing is that the help you get doesn’t need to be always professional or academic. If you are taking help in any of the issues or problems from a person who shares several common things with you will be included in peer-counseling. Peer counseling is very beneficial and effective in so many different ways. Here we will discuss the effectiveness of peer-counseling. That is how effective peer-counseling is in different spheres?
Conflict resolution:
Peer-counseling is so effective in conflict resolution. You go through so many problems every day as a student and even at your workplace. For instance, as a student, you sometimes have so many conflicts regarding academic pressure, career path, or even conflicts regarding relationships. Still, you are not comfortable sharing your issues with your elders. You feel that they cannot give you the right answer or solution to the problem you want. At that, peer counseling plays a vital role in resolving these conflicts because you did not have those barriers that you might have with sharing your conflict with elders.
Safe space:
Another benefit or effectiveness of peer counseling is that you enjoy your personal safe space. One of the reasons behind not sharing problems with anyone else is that people feel that they will not be able to enjoy their personal space after sharing problems. But the trained peer counselor knows very well how to maintain someone’s personal space. They always maintain a safe space with people so they can easily share what they want. They did not judge people and made them comfortable so that they could share their conflicts with them.
Updated solutions:
Through peer counseling, you will always get the most updated solution to your problems. It is true when people say that modern problems require modern solutions. Peer counselors are the people who are your fellows, who belong to the same place where you are and from the same age group. There are so many problems that come with time. So maybe your parents or elders will not be able to give you the right solution that can work best in the situation because they have not faced that conflict or problem throughout their life. But in peer counseling, you did not have this gap. You will get the solution that can work out right now and according to the time requirement.
Always available:
Another plus point of peer counseling is that it is available for you all the time. Because in peer-to-peer counseling, your peer counselors are your friends or a person working or studying with you at the same place. So the biggest benefit is that you can talk with them anytime. Their support is always available for you. Whenever you have any issue or problem, you can share it with them right at the moment.
Experience:
Peer counselors are the people who have also faced the same issues that anyone else in the group is facing or will face. But they are skilled and strong enough to stand out in the conflict problems and find out the solutions for them. With their experience, they can help their peers who face the same issues get out of them easily and quickly. Another thing is that students or people trust their peers more than anyone, so when they help them or give them solutions, they are more likely to work on them.
No judgment:
The core of every counseling is not to judge the people sharing your problems or issue with you. The same goes for peer counseling. Feel free to share your issues with your peers because whatever you are going through, your peers must also have gone through the same situation, have seen someone else going through it, or even have heard about it. So they will not judge you for your problems. Do not fear sharing problems with your peer. They will help you out without judging you or making you feel bad about your problems.
Mental health issues:
Peer counseling is so effective in solving mental health issues and will also save you from becoming mentally ill. As a student or a worker at any workplace, you always want someone who can support you, help you out when you are in trouble and who can talk with you so that you cannot feel alone or left out. Peer-counseling provides you with all these things. It supports you when you need it, listens to all your issues and conflicts and suggests the best solutions for them, helps you build self-confidence, listens to you and motivates you when you are depressed, and helps you come out of so many health issues.
Peer counseling helps you on different occasions and makes it possible to survive in school, college, university, or workplace. This is the support that you get without being judged and without any hesitation. Even this help is easy to payback. For instance, if someone had helped you when you were confused or stuck in any problem, you can pay back by helping your peer when they go through any situation like this.