Peer Education at CAPS
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) recognizes the value
of peer support in helping students address personal concerns. Students
eager to contribute time and energy to assisting their peers, and wishing
to gain experience in a counseling environment are encouraged to apply
to become peer educators. Peer educators for our two programs are selected
in the Spring of each year for an appointment term that runs throughout
the next academic year. The two peer education programs are:
Peer education involves UCSD students providing education and outreach to other students. We believe that student peer education is a strong and important avenue to provide information on topics important and applicable to UCSD students: mental health wellness and women's issues. Peer education provides unique experiences for students to receive training in teaching, presentation, and basic counseling skills. In addition, these students then provide valuable resources and information to the UCSD community through workshop/outreach presentations, group forums, and individual meetings with students.
Many of our past Peer Educators have attended or gone to graduate school in areas of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Medicine, Social Work, and even Engineering. There's something for everyone!
What types of programs are available to join?
CAPS offers the following peer education programs:
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Wellness Program - Tiffany O'Meara, Ph.D., Coordinator
-
Women's Program - Cathy Thompson, Ph.D., Coordinator
Each program offers unique programming and training experiences. These groups typically meet weekly to discuss training, program development, and program planning. In addition, the peer educators meet for an "all-peer training," in which the peers are provided extensive training in basic counseling skills, group facilitation, crisis management and ethics, and how to construct and implement outreach/workshops presentations. For a link to the Peer Education Program section, click here.
What is the time commitment to be a peer educator?
Peer educators typically devote from 3-6 hours per week throughout the academic year. During the start of the Fall quarter, there are two extensive "all-peer training" sessions that require approximately 6 total hours. In addition, some peer education programs require additional training for specific topics or issues.
What types of programs or presentations do peer educators provide?
Each of the peer education programs provides outreach presentations for a wide variety of issues (related to the program's theme). Listed is a sample of recent programs and trainings provided with the peer education program:
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National Depression Screening Day (Wellness Program)
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Stress Management Workshops (Wellness Program)
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National Sleep Awareness Week "Sweet Dreams" Event (Wellness Program)
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Biofeedback and Relaxation Training Workshops (Wellness Program)
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Celebrating Every Body Event (Wellness Program)
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Healthy Eating Series (Women's Program)
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Take Back the Night (Women's Program)
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Eating Disorders Awareness Week (Women's Program)
For a more detailed description of each program, click here.
How do I become a peer educator?
You can apply to be a peer educator the the next academic year online, usually from early-April, and ending in mid-April! For the 2009-10 year, the deadline was 4/17/09 at 12pm.
You can also find out more about each program by attending our Peer Info Session on Monday, April 13, 2009, from 6:30-7:30pm at the Revelle College Formal Lounge! Representatives from each program will be present - there's also FREE FOOD!
Thank you for your interest in our Peer Education Program.