Peer support and peer coaching

The importance of social support in enhancing the wellbeing of helping professionals has been widely emphasized. Friends and family can provide emotional support during challenging times. Many people find that support from colleagues is particularly helpful, as they can empathize and generate options for change that are firmly grounded in the organizational context. Peer coaching formalizes this type of support; it refers to a dyadic relationship based on sharing experiences and practices in order to enhance learning and problem-solving as well as to build stressmanagement skills. Its intrinsic focus on human strengths and flourishing also means that peer coaching has strong potential to enhance emotional resilience.