Workshops for peer helpers
Interested in this program?
Peer helpers are identified by their colleagues and recognized for their communication skill and the trust placed in them. The network they create is also recognized by the employer. They are not a substitute for professional help or employee assistance programs (EAP); they act as intermediaries between employees and professional services. Their role is to detect and support employees in their efforts to receive professional help and during their sick leave and return to work.
The two workshops in this part of the program equip peer helpers to better recognize the signs of mental health disorders in their colleagues and to support them as they seek help from a professional. The workshops spotlight the method for approaching and helping colleagues who have a problem as well as the importance of confidentiality and the ethics of a peer helper.
FIRST WORKSHOP
What to do when the illness strikes a colleague
Description and scope of the problem
- Consequences of mental illness for the individual, his/her loved ones and society
- Costs related to mental illness
Signs and manifestations of mental illness in the workplace
Training to spot the signs of the various manifestations
- Case study and simulations
Training for helping relationships
- Using the case study and simulations, put the peer helper’s techniques and attitudes into practice in a helping interview concerning a mental illness situation
SECOND WORKSHOP
Role and limits of a peer helper in a mental illness situation
- Situate the limits to the peer helper’s action in regards to other interveners in the helping relationship
Thinking about the helping relationship and the ground rules for approaching a colleague in difficulty