Peer support is a non-hierarchical, judgement free meeting of two people with shared experiences that is grounded in listening and empathy. The purpose of my study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a scenario-based training workshop for peer support volunteers with the goal of building resources and implementing a Peer Support Program at Capilano University. Volunteers previously attended training workshops covering ethical considerations and active listening. My project was centered around the addition of a scenario-based role-playing workshop meant to equip volunteers with practice providing support or referrals in difficult scenarios with an actor in a controlled environment. Immediately after the scenarios, volunteers received feedback from clinically trained Faculty in Psychology. After the workshop, volunteers were interviewed to examine the effectiveness of scenario-based training in general as well as to provide insight to shape future workshops. It is crucial that the training is thorough and effective, and volunteer feedback provides a level of analysis that can’t be obtained from observation alone. Two main takeaways from the study were that the addition of a scenario-based training workshop did increase volunteer confidence and we received insightful feedback on how to structure the workshops in the future.
