Peer Counseling

Peer counseling is a paraprofessional service that can be utilized in many different settings. This service modality is often employed as a means of supporting program goals. This entry provides an overview of the key aspects of peer counseling. These include common peer counseling training practices and examples of some of its most commonly used settings.

The use of peer counselors can be traced to the 1960s; it began to gain popularity in the self-help movement of the 1970s. Peer counseling is defined as a supportive service that selected members of a group provide to other members of the same group. It is also referenced in professional literature as student-to-student counseling, peer facilitation, peer mentoring, and peer education. In reality, peer counseling often encompasses a bit ...