Peer Crisis Support Team

Team Leader:
 

Primary Supervisor:
Dr. Carole Woolford-Hunt, PhD
cwh@andrews.edu
Coordinator, Counseling Psychology program

Secondary Supervisor:
Dr. Judith Fisher, PhD
jfisher@andrews.edu Director, Counseling and Testing Center

Mission Statement:
The Peer Crisis Support Team exists to utilize the graduate counseling psychology students’ clinical skills through crisis management, crisis prevention, and crisis response training on campus.

Purpose:
1. To use counseling psychology students’ growing clinical skills to aid the campus community through crisis management
2. To share the counseling psychology students’ growing clinical knowledge with the campus community through crisis prevention
3. To continually increase counseling psychology students experience and understanding through team training and participation

Function:
1. Crisis Management
     a. Attend gatherings when news of a campus crisis is shared. (e.g., announcement of a campus death is reported to students during a chapel service)
     b. Attend gatherings which occur in response to a campus crisis. (e.g., attend a funeral commemorating a campus death)
     c. Lead informal grief groups after aforementioned gatherings and in the first week following a campus crisis. (e.g., Open rooms for students to come by and receive grief support)
     d. Lead a formal grief group for those directly impacted by the campus crisis. (e.g., Lead a weekly grief group for the former floor-mates affected by a campus death)

2. Crisis Prevention
     a. Distribute psychoeducational materials regarding crisis prevention at the yearly undergraduate Health Fair.
     b. Teach psychoeducational classroom discussions, as the opportunity arises.
     c. Present workshops on crisis management in the dorms.
3. Crisis Response Training
     a. Hold a semi-annual training seminar. An invited guest will instruct the team on a topic of interest.
     b. Read training articles, distributed quarterly.

Structure:
1. The team is supervised by a licensed psychologist serving as faculty liaison. The Team Supervisor’s responsibilities are to:
     a. Crisis Management
          i. Alert the Student Leader to campus crises when team involvement is desired.
         ii. Help Student Leader acquire physical space in which to hold grief groups.
     b. Crisis Prevention
          i. Alert the Student Leader to opportunities for psychoeducational classroom discussions.
         ii. Aid the Student Leader in acquiring physical space at the yearly Health Fair.
     c. Crisis Response Training
          i. Communicate team feedback via monthly email communication with the Student Leader.
         ii. Approve selection of semi-annual training speakers, when proposed by Student Leader.
        iii. Supervise team members, on an as needed basis, if critical situations arise during team functions.

2. The team is represented by a Student Leader. The Student Leader’s responsibilities are to:
     a. Crisis Management
          i. Maintain a database of member information for access during crisis response.
         ii. Initiate team response to campus crisis situations, once notified by Team Supervisor.
        iii. Assess need for informal and formal grief groups in response to crisis.
         iv. Delegate the leading of both informal and formal grief groups.
     b. Crisis Prevention
          i. Delegate the leading of psychoeducational classroom discussions, once notified by Team Supervisor.
         ii. Arrange for team’s participation at yearly Health Fair coordinated by the Counseling and Testing Center.
     c. Crisis Response Training
          i. Organize a membership drive at the start of each fall semester.
         ii. Report team activities to the Team Supervisor via monthly email communication.
        iii. Report feedback and upcoming opportunities to team members via monthly email communication.
         iv. Arrange for semi-annual team training sessions.
          v. Write a brief review of the team’s activities once yearly, to be distributed to DGPC faculty.

3. The team is composed of members of the Counseling Psychology program, on a volunteer basis. Team member’s responsibilities are to:
     a. Crisis Management
          i. Report updated schedule and contact information to Student Leader.
         ii. Professionally participate in crisis response activities.
     b. Crisis Prevention
          i. Professionally lead psychoeducational classroom discussions.
         ii. Help man the team’s table at yearly Health Fair.
     c. Crisis Response Training
          i. Attend semi-annual team training sessions in early fall and early spring.
         ii. Thoughtfully read training articles distributed quarterly.
        iii. Communicate team member activity to Student Leader, on an as needed basis.

4. Team membership and Eligibility
     a. Team members will be doctoral students in the Counseling Psychology program.
     b. Team members commit to a minimum of one year of team membership.
     c. Eligibility will be determined by:
          i. Completion of an application form
         ii. Two recommendation forms completed by program faculty
        iii. An interview by the team leader and supervisors

Peer Crisis Support Team - Application (Word Document)

Peer Crisis Support Team - Recommendation (Word Document)