A peer counselor provides assistance and guidance to people with mental health disorders or issues. These individuals are trained explicitly in ensuring that their clients are provided with excellent support services, aimed at helping them thoroughly handle their issues.
Peer Counselor Resumes begin to blend; once a hiring manager goes through too many of them. But make sure that yours doesn’t, by writing one along the lines of the following sample:
Peer Counselor Resume Example
Michelle Goodman
98 Jamaica Street, Concord, NH56491
(000) 999-9999
[Email]
PEER COUNSELOR
SUMMARY
9+ years’ extensive experience in providing one on one assistance to clients suffering from mental health disorders. Effectively able to handle a wide variety of mental health issues by creating and implementing well-placed plans of assistance and support. Documented success in determining clients’ specific mental health disorders, and assisting them in dealing with them.
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
• Successfully created a core mental health peer counseling program, which could easily be tweaked to meet the dynamic needs of each client.
• Implemented a series of interventions for clients with suicidal tendencies, with a success rate of 90%.
• Introduced the concept of group counseling, allowing clients to mingle with other people going through similar circumstances.
• Devised recovery assistance and rehabilitation system, which was well-received by patients.
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES
Counseling Plan Development Intervention Intake
Symptom Management Self-advocacy Family Education
Personal Growth Promotion Group Counseling Recovery Assistance
Rehabilitation Cultural Sensitivity Community Resources
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Peer Counselor
Sky Lakes Medical Center, Concord, NH | 2012-present
• Look through assigned clients’ specific health and mental health histories to determine their conditions.
• Confer with primary doctors to decipher the advancement of the mental health disease.
• Create, develop, and implement core counseling plans to meet the individual needs of each client.
• Engage clients in conversation to determine their thought processes, aspirations, and inclinations.
• Assist clients in managing their symptoms, and recovery by modeling wellness.
• Teach clients self-advocacy, and assist them in determining how to manage activities of daily living, and vocational skills.
• Provide one on one and group counseling to clients to help them cope with their situations.
• Monitor clients’ mental health statuses, and tweak plans to meet their dynamic needs.
Peer Counselor
Metro Plus Mental Health, Concord, NH | 2009-2012
• Provided clients with pep talks to encourage them to handle activities of daily life.
• Interviews clients to determine their specific conditions, and made notes.
• Accompanied clients to doctors’ appointments, and recreational activities such as parties, and events.
• Monitored clients’ conditions, and provided feedback to counselors regarding any changes or deterioration.
• Assisted clients in handling their symptoms and recovery, by ensuring that constant support was provided through flare times.
EDUCATION
New Hampshire State University, Concord, NH – 2008
Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology
Peer Counselor Qualifications
To be considered eligible to work as a peer counselor, you must have a background in psychology.
A degree will go a long way in helping you obtain a job in this capacity, and if you have some experience in a similar area, you will be considered a great hire. As a peer counselor, it will be your job to perform client intake activities and ensure that a well-placed plan is developed to meet the individual needs of each client assigned to you.
Working as a peer counselor can be quite complicated, especially where complicated cases are concerned. You will be expected to handle clients who have mental health issues that are so complex that just trying to understand them will be a great challenge. But at the end of the day, a job well done will mean excellent job satisfaction at your end. Many peer counselors are called upon to assist their clients in matters of emergency, such as suicide tendencies, or self-harm incidents, which is why it is imperative for them to be able to handle these intricacies properly.
Peer Counselor Job Description
• Perform intake tasks to determine patients’ mental health conditions, and look through past histories of mental illness.
• Create and develop core mental health programs, to meet the individual needs of each assigned client.
• Conduct interviews with families to determine patients’ specific issues, and tweak mental health plans accordingly.
• Assist each assigned client in managing his or her symptoms, and handling recovery by modeling wellness, and self-advocacy.
• Provide family members with assistance in understanding their loved ones’ problems, and empathizing with their unique experiences.
• Assist, teach, and support clients with activities of daily life, including vocational skills, housing access, and support networks building.
• Provide crises management, ensuring that encouragement and support are offered at times when clients are unsure, or in a flare.
• Accompany clients to their appointments, such as general check-ups and therapy visits, and confer with doctors regarding specific conditions.
• Observe clients to ensure that they are responding well to counseling, and modify plans according to the dynamic needs of each client.