Peer Counseling: Guidance at eye level makes a positive impact on society

Article 26 paragraph 1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) refers to habilitation, participation, and rehabilitation and specifies that people with disabilities are entitled to the support of other people with disabilities. In other words, the Federal Republic of Germany must facilitate services that are based on the concepts and principles of peer counseling. In Germany, the advocacy group "Interessenvertretung Selbstbestimmt Leben" (English: Self-Determination), ISL, leads the charge on this matter both in terms of defining substantive standards and facilitating training and continuing education of counselors.

Peer counseling focuses on peers helping peers. The methodology was developed in the 1960s by US students in collaboration with college professors. The method benefits from the fact that counseling happens at eye level as counselors and those seeking advice encounter the same obstacles in everyday life and in society, giving rise to a special kind of empathy and understanding of challenges that come with the territory. It also allows for a unique approach to problems. Counselors are perceived as role models due to their unique function. Peer counseling aims to leverage the personal experiences and expert knowledge of counselors to help the person in need of advice with professional and impartial guidance targeting his/her specific interests. Needless to say, peer counselors are also specifically trained in the respective subject matter and methodology and are not just referring to their own everyday experiences.

Charlotte Zach knows all about the responsibilities and role of a peer counselor. The concept is "so simple, yet so far-reaching," according to the peer counselor from Hildesheim. EUTB, Ergänzende unabhängige Teilhabeberatung (English: Complementary Independent Participation Counseling) has been underway since January 1, 2018. Find out why the counselor chose this profession and learn where there is still room for improvement in our interview "EUTB Peer Counseling – Support at eye level".Zach reveals why she is so excited by her work: "By being a peer that supports another peer, we meet at eye level […] let’s do away with the cookie-cutter approach and let’s do away with making decisions for us and support our right to self-determination." This highlights another aspect of peer counseling: People with disabilities should not just exchange information but also support each other in building self-determination. This promotes participation and boosts empowerment.

Apart from the EUTB, the kombabb Kompetenzzentrum NRW (Competence Center in North Rhine-Westphalia) likewise takes advantage of the premise and provides professional counseling and information for students with (non-) visible disabilities and / or chronic illness. Since July 2019, the support service has been expanded to students with autism or those on the autism spectrum. KoKoBe Bonn Rhein Sieg is funded by the Landschaftsverband Rheinland, LVR (English: Regional Authority Rhineland) and is another service for people with disabilities that offers peer counseling. Counselors have experience with physical disabilities, hearing and visual impairments, epilepsy or diseases such as cancer and depression.

All support services share one commonality: the counseling is free of charge though it should be noted that the goal is less about offering concrete advice, but more about helping people help themselves. Having said that, this makes working as a peer counselor somewhat difficult. After all, counselors must be able to reflect on their own circumstances and the respective difficulties this poses in everyday life, and at the same time - despite all the familiarity and desire to help – they must also be able to keep a calm, caring attitude while maintaining professional boundaries with the person seeking guidance. There is always an inherent risk of identifying too closely with the other person’s situation.

The example of "Peers im Krankenhaus" (English: Hospital Peers) or PiK shows the importance of peer counseling. An amputation turns the lives of victims upside down overnight. And although patients get immediate support from nurses, physicians, physiotherapists, and orthopedic technicians, the latter are not able to answer all the questions that arise from this unique situation. Theresa T. can attest to this. In our article Peer Counseling in hospitals: Empowering amputees, she talks about her worries and feelings after "taking her first steps" with the new prosthetic limb. "I had a feeling of being alone despite the emotional support of my family and friends." Enter Dagmar Marth who works as a peer counselor at Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin (ukb). In countless conversations, Marth helped the 22-year-old, while the latter was fitted in-house for her prosthetic device. Among other things, Marth shared practical tips for buying shoes, and in doing so, was able to encourage the student along the way. "What a blessing it was to find someone to talk to about the pain, the problems, my fears and hopes and knowing we shared a similar experience. I felt so understood. She encouraged me and I lost my fear of new things and changes." And by encouraging others and offering the kind of support she wished she could have had back when she first embarked on this long journey, the peer counselor’s commitment also benefits and empowers her on a very personal level.

It’s clear that if this technique is implemented correctly, everybody wins in the end. People with disabilities are given the right tools to lead a self-determined life and subsequently take this concept into their communities and society at large. This empowerment (hopefully) promotes disability inclusion, warranting that other requests by the UN CRPD will finally be fulfilled and the mantra "Nothing about us without us" will at long last become an integral part of society.