PROJECT TITLE: Peer Counseling

Project Description

• Peer counseling is an organization that mainly focuses on helping students by giving them emotional and mental support from their peers who have similar life experiences that could help them improve their mental health.

Rationale

• To establish a student organization that will debunk all myths, stereotypes, and stigmas associated with mental illnesses.

• To nurture and enhance each student's emotional intelligence (EQ), critical-thinking abilities, empathy, and leadership qualities.

• To mold our society's future guidance counselors, psychiatrists, and psychologists.

• To help improve student-counselor communication.

Mechanism

• It will be an organization, led by one of the guidance counselors of our school.

• Students involved in this organization will be called “Student Counselors” or “First-Aiders”.

• There will be a Facebook page for this organization, with publication materials involving facts and tips about mental health, and mental illnesses/disorders.

• Our Guidance Counselors shall train the student counselors/first-aiders. Seminars on appropriate counseling techniques, how to develop empathy, eradicating stigmas associated with mental illness, etc. may be included in the said training.

• A "student hotline" will be available for Sophians to contact their fellow students/first-aiders. All students are welcome to call/message this hotline if they have problems or concerns that are affecting their academic performance and mental stability. (e.g. academic pressure and difficulties, self-esteem and confidence, physical and/or cyberbullying).

  • • All of the things discussed by the First-Aiders and students shall be kept confidential. If a first-aider violates this guideline, it could result in mild to severe consequences, unless the situation calls it necessary (currently a victim of bullying, showing signs of severe depression and self-harming tendencies, etc.).

    • First-Aiders shall refer the students with severe problems to the school’s guidance counselors.

    • The student hotline will only be open once or twice a week, during the First-Aiders’ free time.