We are coming to the end of our training for the new 21F-22W cohort of peer support volunteers! These volunteers have committed to undergoing over 50 hours of training in the past two terms and are eager to start serving their peers next term. To close out this training cycle, we asked the volunteers to reflect on the training, the skills they’ve learned, and the importance of mental health. Here’s what some of them had to say:
MHU Peer Support training has helped me develop skills that I’m sure will pay off in the future. I know that my active listening skills have certainly improved in a way I couldn’t have imagined before. I hope you all know that your peer supporters worked really hard to be able to give you support.
Going through peer support training has shown me that there is a strong community of people at Dartmouth who are passionate about others’ mental health and wellbeing.
The motivational interviewing and reflective listening skills I have gained through peer support training allowed me to more effectively help my peers in their times of crisis. It has also enabled me to reflect on my own wellbeing and evaluate the mental health resources at Dartmouth.
I am so grateful to be a part of the Mental Health Peer Support Union. Being trained as a peer supporter makes me feel strongly that I have developed the skills to be an effective listener that is able to guide another student through any issues they are facing.
I was really surprised by how much I learned about being a supportive listener. Before peer support training I thought that I was pretty good at being a listener and helping facilitate conversations but the trainings really helped me focus in on how to dig deeper in a conversation and bring to the surface the issues that someone may be facing so that they can identify how best to deal with them. I enjoyed being able to take a step back and realize that sometimes it truly is best to just sit, listen, and reflect rather than offer solutions to a problems.
I enjoyed the program and think I developed a lot of confidence in my listening abilities throughout the training. Zoom lectures were hard to focus on. Otherwise the weekly changing program of training vs input was very good.
From peer support training, I’ve gained a lot of skills in terms of how to support others in whatever situation or emotion they are experiencing at the moment. Training has shaped my perception of interpersonal relationships, specifically I learned to be more mindful of what I say to others and the implicit (or explicit) messages that I’m sending to others. To people unsure about coming to peer support, I would say that we are here for you and here to help. – Jennifer Chen ‘23
Peer support training has been a really valuable experience. I’m excited to start volunteering and to be there for students who just need someone to talk to.
I really appreciated the practice sessions where we got to work with each other and provide feedback. I also liked the concrete strategies that we have gotten to better support. However, I really struggled to stay engaged over zoom sessions.
I encourage everyone to reach out to a peer support volunteer! We have gone through six months of training to be here for you, but we are your peers and your friends so no problem is too big or too small to come talk about with us 🙂
In going through the peer support training program, I’ve realized the importance of mindful reflection. It’s very important to just sit with your thoughts sometimes, and not everything needs an immediate solution or fix. Just realizing what emotions you’re feeling is a big step!
It was really amazing to learn how to be an empathetic listener. I was a little scared not being able to listen empathetically, but peer support changed this.
I really enjoyed the first term of the training — I learned a lot of valuable skills that helped equip me to be a better listener and friend. That said, I felt the second term of training was a little redundant at times. I think the resources we learned about could have been consolidated in a reading of sorts (which would have also helped us remember the resources more clearly). Further, these sessions could have been devoted to more practice.
I have really enjoyed my experience with Peer Support training. I have learned how to be nonjudgemental and become more aware of the ways in which people can struggle here on campus. One of my favorite sessions was about grief and why people may experience it. I wrote down one of my favorite lines from that session that said, “You can’t heal someone’s pain by trying to take it away from them, you must acknowledge the pain and let it exist.”
I really enjoyed the past 2 terms and the trainings we had. It felt great to be with other people who care a lot about helping others. I think MHU did a great job at teaching us the skills we need to be good listeners and supporters for Dartmouth students and I’m excited to start in the spring! – Jess Hernandez ‘22
Congratulations, new peer support volunteers! We appreciate your hard work and hope to see you at peer support next term!
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