New leadership opportunity for 2022-2023!
Create a culture of compassion and openness. Are you a student with:
- A passion for helping others?
- An interest in mental health and substance use, with hope of improving awareness and reducing stigma?
- An openness to expanding your sense of compassion, tolerance, and appreciation of yourself and others?
- A desire to make a difference in the lives of your fellow students?
Consider applying to be a GC Wellness Peer Educator (official name to be determined by members). The GC Wellness Peer Educators are a group of students who are trained to provide informal, accepting, and non-judgmental peer support. You will bring awareness to emotional well-being, mental health, and substance use through peer support and outreach on campus. This is a paid position with a stipend of 21 hours/semester.
Questions? Contact Liz Andes, director of health & wellness: landes@goshen.edu
Apply now!
The GC Wellness Peer educators are a group of Goshen College undergraduate students trained by Health & Wellness and Campus Counseling staff to provide informal, accepting, non-judgmental support to their peers. Both residential students and commuter students serve in this critical role and are available to serve as resources to all undergraduate students.
Members participate in more than 20+ hours of informational and experiential training. Peer educators can help you and others can feel heard, validated, and understood when bridging the gap between students and Health & Wellness.
What you’ll learn
As a member of our team, you’ll be trained and supervised by professional staff in Health & Wellness and Campus Counseling. You’ll acquire transferable skills that will be useful both now and in the future. You’ll build relationships with trained social workers and counselors who serve as mentors and professional contacts. You’ll participate in training in which you’ll gain:
- Knowledge about mental health issues college students face, including depression, anxiety, suicide, disordered eating and body image, sexual assault, and substance problems
- Assessment tools used by substance use counselors to diagnose use disorders
- The ability to recognize signs of distress in a fellow student
- Basic intervention skills including listening, attending, and empathic response
- Appropriate referral techniques
- Awareness of issues that prevent students from seeking help, including fear, shame, stigma, or cultural issues
- Experience engaging people from different backgrounds
What’s required?
Being a peer educator is a commitment, but one that’s rewarding on many levels. This is a paid position, stipend at 21 hours per semester. If you’re accepted, here’s what will be required of you:
-
Attend one half-day training per semester
-
Attend one 90-minute training session/team meeting per month
-
Be available to peers looking for 1:1 support and resources. For example, some peer educators may choose to hold “office hours” where students can drop by to ask questions and be connected to resources. Others may speak at residence hall floor meetings or at Commuter Student Association meetings.
-
Participate in supervision with the Director of Health & Wellness to develop your skills and get feedback
-
As a group, plan and execute one outreach program per semester around mental health and/or substance use.