Peer Programmes at the College Campus: Theory, Training and the Voice of the Peers

Book by Hatcher, Sherry L.

The book is a collection of papers on various aspects of developing and administering peer counseling programs, training counselors, and utilizing peers in various other capacities, such as teaching, tutoring, and facilitating interaction among students in a multicultural environment. Dr. Hatcher stresses that peer counseling is not therapy, but a source of help for problems of everyday living, and that peer counselors are intensively trained and supervised. Peer counseling, moreover, focuses on prevention of more serious problems and in no way is intended to replace psychotherapy by a trained professional.A unique feature of many of the papers is the verbatim reports by the peer counselors themselves on their experiences and reactions to their work. Many of them noted their own personal growth, that in helping others, they in turn were helped. Their candid appraisal of what it feels like to be a helper and how their lives were affected was refreshing and enlightening to read. -- The MWP Network, Vol. 9, No. 3, 1996

This paperback is a useful, three-in-one tool for the novice as well as the experienced practitioner in the peer helping field. The first three chapters of the book provide a clear presentation of what peer counseling is and isn't and then offer a rationale and detailed weekly agenda, including exercises, for an academic course in peer counseling. The next 11 chapters describe a variety of peer helping programs in the specific areas of peer counseling, peer education, academic peer advising, peer teaching, and multicultural peer facilitation. The reader will find commentary ("voice of the peers") on various aspects of the program interspersed throughout these chapters. This blending of supervisor and peer viewpoints is a unique approach that makes for interesting reading. In general, this edited publication is a comprehensive and practical new addition to the literature on peer helping. While intended primarily for use on the college campus, its outstanding feature! s make it applicable to other settings where peer programs are being explored and/or developed. -- The Peer Facilitator Quarterly, Vol.13, No.2, 1996