In Case You Haven't Heard…

Abstract

Students interested in counseling have long provided informal peer support through clubs and organizations, including campus chapters of Active Minds or the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Inside Higher Ed reported Oct. 17. But now, some universities are backing such work in more formal ways, paying students to administer mental health education and programming and even peer counseling and coaching. At California State University, Fullerton, eight undergraduate students, called mental health peer educators, are responsible for delivering workshops to fellow students on several mental health–related topics. That responsibility used to fall to clinical staff in Counseling and Psychological Services, but in 2021 officials decided instead to hire and train students to lead the hourlong workshops, which cover common mental health issues, such as stress, sleep and mood. Leaders at other universities with similar models agreed that paid peer‐support roles can be a valuable supplement to traditional counseling center offerings. Paige Bartels, director of counseling and psychological services at the University of New Haven, said in an email to Inside Higher Ed that while the university employs undergraduates as “community wellness advocates,” the services they provide are not meant to replace therapy — a common refrain among universities experimenting with new ways to ease the burden of overstretched mental health professionals.