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Peer Counseling - An Employee Assistance Program

NCJ Number
96317
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 53 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1984) Pages: 2-8
Author(s)
F L Capps
Date Published
1984
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Peer counseling offers a means of increasing organizational efficiency and employee well-being in law enforcement agencies.
Abstract
Police work involves a great deal of stress. Employees who experience short-term crises need to be heard, need to feel understood, and need peer recognition of the extent of the problems they face. Peer counseling is a means of meeting these needs. With careful planning and implementation, an organization can provide a support network of peer counselors at a low cost to support fellow employees and the organization as a whole. The Los Angeles Police Department is the first department in the country to develop and implement a major peer counseling program using regularly employed officers and civilians on a large scale. Monthly statistics indicate that 70 percent of counseling time is spent on issues involving personal relationships, discipline, and career problems. Paraprofessionals who have received minimal training have been shown in research to be at least as effective and often better than professionals. Peer counselors receive training over a 24-hour period, using a three-phase crisis counseling model. Regulations cover the need for confidentiality of communications. Twenty-one footnotes containing references are supplied.