Peer Team Training

Peer Team Training Description

This two-day program is designed to prepare participants with the basics to serve as Peer Supporters within their own organizations and is a requirement to become a responding SC FAST team member.

Day 1 centers around self care. Understanding who you are enhances your ability to help others. A large amount of information is taught throughout the day and the first half of the day is potentially emotionally heavy.

• The day begins with Understanding Grief. First responders serve grieving people daily, and understanding what grief is, how we experience it ourselves, and what it looks like to serve others well is a big foundational piece of this course.
• The next topic is Suicide Awareness, a program used to educate on the definition of suicide, risk and protective factors along with warning signs, resources, and how to find and utilize resources in your area for the “when, not if.”

The afternoon begins with a brief look at the history of SCFAST, its beginning, and the statewide resources available to first responders in SC and their families.

• Finding Balance was written to identify common characteristics of many first responders, seeing what makes us good at the work we do, and what sometimes holds us back from being in balance with ourselves, our work and out homelife.
• Transforming Minds helps the individual to understand a few of the systems of our brain, the hormones at work in our bodies and practices helpful to either keep the brain healthy or help the brain to heal after trauma.
• Understanding The Role of a Clinician is vital to know when to refer and to help encourage our first responders by letting them know what will most likely happen when making an appointment with a clinician and why it is important to refer to culturally competent clinicians.
• EAP Basics discusses the importance of understanding your agency’s EAPand the roles that you can have to increase understanding as well as support from and for the EAP.
• During The Role of a Chaplin, the focus is on how a department, local chaplain, or chaplain group can support you and your people.

Day 2 focuses more on the Peer Team, whether joining an exitsting team or developing one. The day begins with a brief recap of Day 1 and includes time for questions and likes dislikes of the course.

• Peer Team Basics is a discussion of Applications and SOGs and includes time to answer questions participants may have.
• The Judgement Exercise emphasizes that judging others has no place in peer support.
• Class participation in A Listening Exercise partnered with The Power of Listening demonstrates the importance of techniques used to be an effective peer supporter. Listening will be the largest percentage of your effective peer support role.
• When Their Stuff Becomes Your Stuff dives into secondary trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout, and how they can impact you. Participants will learn how to protect themselves while helping others.
• Role Playing places participants into practice situations to use all the pieces presented in the two days.

A certificate of completion will be presented after the 16 hours. Participants will also receive extra information and resource information.