Peer support at work
Colleagues or peers in the work place, who have not been unduly affected by the traumatic incident, are often best placed to offer support to others.
When the organisational structure is rendered ineffective contingency plans need to be employed restoring confidence that there are alternative systems in place to manage the impact of any incident.
The more organisations familiarise their employees with these plans the better. Restoring a sense of safety is also essential before anyone can reflect on their sense of personal wellbeing either on their own or as part of a peer support approach. For example, it’s difficult to answer the question, ‘How are you feeling?’, if you are is still in survival mode.
The following steps illustrate the process through which support can be offered in the aftermath of a traumatic incident by first meeting the basic needs of the individuals concerned. This simple step by step approach can be highly effective in empowering individuals by restoring a sense of control.
Safe space
- Eliminate any threat.
- Provide safe environment.
- Meet physical needs.
- Offer calm peer support.
- Set clear boundaries.
- Explain confidentiality.
- Respond to current concerns or questions.
Time to talk
- Listen: be genuine and non-judgemental, show compassion and empathy.
- Allow the experience to unfold and ask open questions to clarify.
- Check back to ensure you are understanding what is being said.
- Don’t try to give advice or fix things.
Back to the present
- Identify available support networks, for example family, friends, etc.
- Ensure practical needs are met right now, for example transport home, finding personal items, collecting children.
- Normalise reactions and provide coping strategies and self help.
- Plan any actions and always follow up.
As mentioned previously, for further information about effective support please go to the Pre-incident Preparedness course.
Some things to think about
- Based on your experience of the community or organisation that you are a part of, we invite you to reflect on how you think it could cope with adversity.
- Are you clear about where the sources of support are that you or others could draw on in the event of a major incident?
- If you are unsure, is there anything that you could do to be better informed or to address your concerns?