Starting this past spring, the Georgia Tech Counseling Center is now offering a new resource for students. The Peer Coaching Program provides Tech students with another way to seek and receive support with academic, social or other personal concerns commonly faced by college students. Students who take part in the program are matched with a Tech peer who has been extensively trained to navigate conversations about physical, mental and emotional well-being in a personal and private manner and provide needed support, education and resources to thrive at Georgia Tech.

The development of the Peer Coaching Program is a result of the Mental Health Task Force, convened by President Peterson in 2013. Task force members recognized that “the high expectations placed on students by themselves, their professors and sometimes their families have led to a cultural acceptance of a high stress, high productivity environment” and that such an environment can have a powerful impact on student well-being. The Counseling Center met with a number of students connected to the task force proceedings and invested in making a positive difference on the mental health and well-being of the student body. These students felt strongly that Tech students, while perhaps reluctant to speak with their professors or professional staff on campus about their struggles, whether due to concerns about stigma or a general disinclination to ask for help, would value and be much more likely to talk to a peer.

The students who serve as Peer Coaches are a diverse group and represent various majors and class statuses. Peer Coaches complete a semester-long training process before serving as coaches and their work with students is supervised by a licensed psychologist and staff member of the Counseling Center. All students currently enrolled at Georgia Tech, graduate and undergraduate, are eligible to participate in peer coaching.

Services provided by the Peer Coaches are considered consultation services, as opposed to counseling or therapy. Students serving as Peer Coaches are trained to create a supportive and understanding environment in which students can identify and accomplish specific academic, social or other personal goals. Peer Coaches are not trained counselors or therapists and students meeting with a Peer Coach are not clients of the Counseling Center. Common concerns Peer Coaching may be able to help address include:

• Adjustment to College/Tech Culture
• Academic Struggles (e.g. study skills, time management, motivation)
• Relationship Concerns (e.g. roommates, friendships, dating/partner relationships, family)
• Grief and Loss
• Stress

Students interested in meeting with a Peer Coach will need to complete a screening form. Anyone interested in more information about this new and exciting program are encouraged to check out the website: peercoaching.gatech.edu. If you have additional questions, please contact the Peer Coaching Coordinator, Dr. Jason Braun, via email: jason.braun@studentlife.gatech.edu.