Peer Counseling
Need a listening ear? The Peer Counseling Program is a team of student volunteers dedicated to helping other students experiencing any kind of emotional problems. Recognizing that students often feel most comfortable talking with friends about life issues, the Peer Counselors receive extensive training on how to help other students. They are not therapists, but act as friends who are knowledgeable about the kinds of emotional issues affecting students and campus resources.
These caring and committed campus leaders go through a week-long training in the early fall and then participate in an ongoing monthly training program throughout the year. They learn about depression, anxiety, eating issues, grief, relationship issues, alcohol and substance problems, academic problems, and trauma. They learn how to listen without judging, and keep all contacts confidential (except for situations where there a student is at risk of harm, when they get consultation from the University Counselor on-call).
Peer Counselors team up with RAs on each hall to help first-year students make a successful adjustment to W&L, but are also available to upper class students. The PCs want to be there for you whether your issue is large or small; if you are a W&L student experiencing any kind of life difficulty and want support from a peer you can contact any of the PCs any time, either by email from the list below or by phone using the numbers on the Peer Counseling posters around campus.
Kirk Luder
kluder@wlu.edu
Staff Advisor
