Peer counseling

Peer support (English: peer counseling ) refers to the advice of people with the same characteristics and the same life situation such as Advised. In the German-speaking world, the term is used today. a. Used in connection with people with disabilities, with mental health problems, with young people, with students and in the LGBT area.

History of "Peer Involvement"

The attribute "peer" in the English language can mean both "similar" and "equal". Because when talking about "peer groups" mostly groups of young people are meant, the attribute "peer" has the strong connotation "same age".

"Peer counseling " is a special case of "peer involvement" (which means "inclusion of" peer persons "in the above sense). In addition to "peer counseling", "peer involvement" also includes "peer education" and "peer support". "Peer education" consists in the fact that educators in the broadest sense of the word want to influence the behavior of a target group with the help of "peer persons", with "peer support" practical help from "peer persons" themselves (also called "peer help") is included Foreground, which can also fulfill advisory functions at the same time.

The first written indications of a "peer involvement" can be found in the 1st century font Institutio Oratoria by the Roman rhetorician Quintilian . There is talk of children who have taught younger people. Such a “tutor system” has existed in various parts of Europe for centuries. Such tutor systems experienced a new heyday in the 1960s; they are mostly aimed at socially disadvantaged, disabled or poorly trained students.

In the health sector, the "peer education" method was first used in the USA in the context of a flu epidemic. With the blossoming of the counter and drug culture, numerous initiatives were started in the USA in the 1960s to provide help to drug users with acute drug problems, also through the use of "peer persons". Measures of "peer counseling" with young people (as it is still today) always included elements of "peer education" in the sense that the members of the target group should not leave the "path of virtue" or return to it.

From the 1990s onwards, "peer involvement" approaches were practiced in German-speaking countries, largely based on the US model.

Austria

Since 1994, projects for HIV prevention with the help of drug experts have been running at the Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz .

In 1997, Karl Bohrn, as a representative of the "Association for Prevention and Psychosocial Family Work", was the first Austrian who, supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry for the Environment, Youth and Family, systematically dealt with the method of "Peer Involvement".

In Austria, police officers are systematically supported by peer support after highly stressful missions.

Germany

Target group people with disabilities

Since 1994 the education and research institute for the self-determined life of the handicapped (bifos) has continuously carried out further training to become “Peer Counselor ISL ”.

organization

In 1998 the professional association Peer Counseling e. V. (BVP) was founded by graduates and trainers of peer counseling training. The BVP organizes specialist conferences and seminars and advises peer counselors. The association also lobbies for professional recognition.

Disabled people who work as peer counselors on a full-time or voluntary basis can become members of the FOPI. The prerequisite is a completed further training as a peer counselor. The further training should enable participants to reflect on knowledge about their own life history as a disabled person, to recognize their own processing and relationship patterns and to bring self-experience into the counseling. In the course of further training, they acquire advisory skills and practice advisory methods.

In addition, the work of the BVP can be supported by a sponsoring membership. The BVP works closely with the self-determined life advocacy group in Germany (ISL eV).

Legal bases

UN Disability Rights Convention

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been in force in Germany since March 26, 2009 . Article 26, Paragraph 1 (“Habilitation and Rehabilitation”) of the Convention stipulates “effective and appropriate measures to implement the principle of participation in practice, including through support from other people with disabilities ”. The Federal Republic of Germany is therefore legally obliged to ensure that people with disabilities are offered peer support and thus the method of peer counseling.

In the coalition agreement signed by the CDU, CSU and SPD on December 14, 2013 for the 18th legislative period (2013–2017), the governing parties took up the requirement of the convention in the section “People with and without disabilities” and agreed under the motto: "Nothing about us without us", a reform of the integration assistance . In 2013, the coalition parties announced that they wanted to lead people with disabilities “out of the previous 'welfare system' and further develop integration assistance into a modern right to participate”. The result of such efforts is the Federal Participation Act (officially: "Act to strengthen the participation and self-determination of people with disabilities").

Federal Participation Act

With the Federal Participation Act , a new Section 32 of Book IX of the Social Code came into force in Germany on January 1, 2018 , through which people with disabilities and people at risk of disability are to receive “supplementary advice as a low-threshold offer, independent of service providers and service providers” (Paragraph 1). "The additional offer extends to information and advice on rehabilitation and participation services". (Paragraph 2). The aim is that this offer is made available “as widely” as possible.

The counseling service provides information about possible entitlements to benefits under the Social Security Code , contact persons and the responsible rehabilitation agencies. The supplementary independent participation advice should not only take place in advance of the application for specific benefits; Rather, it is possible to make additional use of the counseling services in the entire rehabilitation or participation process. This also applies in particular to participation planning. The counseling follows a low-threshold approach and should therefore be accessible in the social area of ​​the people seeking advice. A "peer support" in the sense of a legal representation of those seeking advice is forbidden to "peer counseling" in the sense of § 32 SGB IX.

For the development of a nationwide network of peer advisory institutions, the federal government is granting start-up financing between 2018 and 2022 of a planned annual amount of € 58 million. Existing advisory structures should be given priority. Applications from potential specialist agency operators for funding had to be submitted to the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs by August 31, 2017 if funding was to be claimed from January 1, 2018; If applications were received later or were incomplete, funding was only possible from April 1, 2018. Legal entities based in Germany are eligible to apply if they guarantee that the advice is provided independently of the interests of the service providers and providers and that the advice does not pursue any direct profit-making intent. If only service providers in a region are willing to set up peer counseling facilities, they should not be excluded from submitting an application as an exception. The approval of service providers must be necessary for “sufficient coverage of regional advisory services and / or offers for specific disabilities”.

To coordinate the work of the counseling institutions, a “Specialist Unit for Participation Counseling (FTB)” was set up, which started operations on December 1, 2017. It provides technical and organizational support for the regional advisory services that will be funded as part of the Supplementary Independent Participation Advisory Service (EUTB) from January 1, 2018. Among other things, it offers a basic qualification that is compulsory for all EUTB counselors and promotes networking between the counseling services. The EUTB was introduced “to strengthen those entitled to benefits in the social law triangle or the desire for a personal budget ”.

Overall, it can be seen that the approach of peer counseling in the context of the BTHG goes well beyond pure advisory activity. In addition to the objective of encouraging and empowering those seeking advice to lead a self-determined life, to strengthen their self-confidence and self-esteem and to achieve more independence from the support of third parties, there is a political dimension of representing the interests of disabled or chronically ill people as well as the fight about equality and recognition.

Critics have questioned that "the content-related narrowing of the planned promotion of offers to information and advice about rehabilitation and participation services within the framework of the BTHG would be sensible and practicable". The ISL eV criticized in 2017 that the schedule of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs could hardly be adhered to and that the basics of the work of the specialist agency for participation advice were hardly sustainable.

Target group People with mental health problems

There are approaches to a "peer involvement" in many institutions that deal with dealing with psychological problems, in the narrower sense with mental disorders with a disease value, as instructed.

A system of peer counseling has also developed in Germany, particularly in the area of ​​“ people with psychiatric experience ”.

Target group young people

"Peer groups" of young people were the first to try out concepts of "peer involvement". It was about learning aids in the broadest sense ("peer education"), narrowly about attitude and behavior modifications in the areas of alcohol and drug consumption, risky sexual behavior and dealing with violence, but also generally about education for a health-promoting and socially adapted one Behavior.

In addition, the "State Working Group for Youth Social Work in Lower Saxony (LAG JAW)" designates the work areas "Help in the process of professional orientation " and "Instructions for the correct use of the cell phone" as work fields of (social) education in which "peer persons" are used can and should be.

A fundamental criticism of forms of "peer involvement" among young people is that this may not only represent "a method that offers the young people involved opportunities to participate", but could also represent "an intervention in the young people's subculture" has a strong instrumental character and ascribes a need for outside help to young people. ”In addition, the question arises,“ whether the young people and subgroups who are really at risk can be reached at all through peer involvement. ”

Target group immigrants

The organization ipso trains refugees and other people with migration experience as psychosocial counselors. Ipso aims to provide native-speaker and culture-sensitive psychosocial counseling.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, various regional and national institutions offer peer counseling as part of an overall treatment.

Zimbabwe

In Zimbabwe , Dixon Chibanda founded the “Friendship Bench” project, in which grandmothers advise other people in their neighborhoods.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Peer advice ( Memento of the original from October 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Project psychenet - Hamburg network mental health 
2. ^ Professional association of peer counseling
3. ↑ Dieter Kleiber / Elke Appel / Petra Pfarr: Peer Education in Prevention Work. Lines of development, justification patterns, experiences and development requirements . Free University of Berlin / Institute for Prevention and Psychosocial Health Research. May 1998, p. 3
4. ↑ Hannelore Leicht: HIV prevention with reference to the peer group education project at the KFU Graz . 1995
5. ↑ Karl Bohrn: "peer education" in Austria - An overview of innovative projects and initiatives in prevention work. With a list of 23 projects . Institute for Social and Health Psychology . Vienna 1997
6. ↑ Gas explosion during eviction: Ein Toter orf.at, January 26, 2017, accessed January 26, 2017.
7. ↑ Federal Ministry of the Interior: Security Academy . Peer Support section
8. ↑ Manfred Sauer Foundation: Find a Peer Counselor or become one yourself . February 2017
9. ↑ Art. United Nations Convention of December 13, 2006 on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities . " Federal Law Gazette ". December 21, 2008, p. 1439
10. ^ Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU): Shaping Germany's future: coalition agreement between CDU, CSU and SPD . P. 78
11. ↑ Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs: Supplementary Independent Participation Advice. Information for possible providers . June 2017
12. ↑ Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs: Frequently asked questions about the Federal Participation Act (BTHG) . April 12, 2017, p. 15f.
13. ↑ Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs: BMAS publishes funding guidelines for supplementary independent participation advice . May 30, 2017
14. ↑ Landesverband Rheinland: State of the art on "Supplementary Independent Participation Advice". Template 14/1930 . March 29, 2017, p. 36 (31)
15. ↑ Alfons Polczyk: Supplementary independent participation advice . The professional associations for people with disabilities - specialist conference “The Federal Participation Act - Opportunities and Risks”. Berlin, May 11, 2017
16. ↑ German Deaf Association: Guide for applicants to implement the guideline for promoting “supplementary independent participation advice” for people with disabilities . May 31, 2017, p. 6f.
17. ↑ Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) / Specialist agency for supplementary independent participation advice: Specialist agency for participation advice is set up
18. ↑ German Association for Rehabilitation (DVFR): BMAS sets up a specialist center for participation advice . September 21, 2017
19. ↑ The specialist office. In: teilhabeberatung.de. Retrieved January 14, 2020 . 
20. ↑ Aims and tasks of the participation advice center. In: teilhabeberatung.de. Retrieved January 14, 2020 . 
21. ↑ Micah Jordan / Gudrun Wansing: Peer Counseling: An independent form of counseling by and for people with disabilities - Part 1: Concept and implementation . Discussion forum on rehabilitation and participation law (www.reha-recht.de). 11th August 2016
22. ↑ ISL eV: Specialist office for participation advice on the BMAS 'leash !? , 2017.
23. ↑ Simone Hiller: "Experienced Involvement": Psychiatry experienced as peer specialists. Attitudes and expectations of employees of a social psychiatric service ( memento of the original from June 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Bachelor thesis. Munich, September 4, 2011 
24. ↑ State working group for youth social work in Lower Saxony (LAG JAW): What opportunities does the peer approach offer in vocational assistance for young people? . Special issue 3/2013
25. ↑ Dirk Rohr / Sarah Strauss: Focus on violence and violence prevention . In: State Working Group for Youth Social Work in Lower Saxony (LAG JAW): What opportunities does the peer approach offer in vocational assistance for young people? . Special issue 3/2013, p. 18
26. ↑ Anne Backhaus: Psychotherapy in Zimbabwe: Grandmas who alleviate mental agony on park benches. In: Spiegel online. December 30, 2019, accessed January 12, 2020 . 

Please note the information on legal issues!