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Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other.〔Shery Mead, David Hilton, Laurie Curtis, ("Peer Support: A Theoretical Perspective." )〕 It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters (although it can be provided by peers without training), and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, listening, or counseling. Peer support is also used to refer to initiatives where colleagues, members of self-help organizations and others meet, in person or online, as equals to give each other support on a reciprocal basis. Peer support is distinct from other forms of social support in that the source of support is a ''peer'', a person who is similar in fundamental ways to the recipient of the support; their relationship is one of equality. A peer is in a position to offer support by virtue of relevant experience: he or she has "been there, done that" and can relate to others who are now in a similar situation. Trained peer support workers such as peer support specialists and peer counselors receive special training and are required to obtain Continuing Education Units, like clinical staff. Some other trained peer support workers may also be law-enforcement personnel and firefighters as well as emergency medical responders. ==Underlying theory== The effectiveness of peer support is believed to derive from a variety of psychosocial processes described best by Mark Salzer in 2002:〔.〕 social support, experiential knowledge, social learning theory, social comparison theory and the helper-therapy principle.〔(Mead S., & MacNeil C,. (2006). "Peer Support: What Makes It Unique?" ), ''International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation.'' 10 (2), 29-37.〕 *Social support is the existence of positive psychosocial interactions with others with whom there is mutual trust and concern.〔Sarason, I., Levine, H., Basham, R., & Sarason, B. (1983). "Assessing social support: The social support questionnaire." ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,'' 44, 127–139.〕 Positive relationships contribute to positive adjustment and buffer against stressors and adversities by offering (a) emotional support〔Raymond B. Flannery Jr., "Social support and psychological trauma: A methodological review." ''Journal of Traumatic Stress,'' Volume 3, Issue 4, pages 593–611, October 1990.〕 (esteem, attachment, and reassurance),〔(Young, K.W. (2006). "Social Support and Life Satisfaction" ), ''International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation.'' 10 (2), 155-164.〕 (b) instrumental support (material goods and services), (c) companionship〔Thoits, P. (1986). "Social support as coping assistance." ''J. Consult. Clin. Psychol.'' 54: 416-423.〕 and (d) information support (advice, guidance, and feedback).〔Phyllis Solomon, ("Peer support/peer provided services underlying processes, benefits, and critical ingredients" ), ''Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal,'' 2004;27(4):392-401; issn 1095-158X, doi 10.2975/27.2004.392.401, pmid 15222150〕 *Experiential knowledge is specialized information and perspectives that people obtain from living through a particular experience such as substance abuse, a physical disability, chronic physical or mental illness, or a traumatic event such as combat, a natural disaster, domestic violence or a violent crime, sexual abuse, or imprisonment. Experiential knowledge tends to be unique and pragmatic and when shared contributes to solving problems and improving quality of life.〔Shubert, M., & Borkman, T. (1994). "Identifying the experiential knowledge developed within a self-help group." In T. Powell (Ed.) ''Understanding the self-help organization.'' Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.〕〔Coyne J. C. and De Longis A. (1986). "Going beyond social support: The role of social relationships in adaptation." ''J. Consulting and Clinical Psychology'' 54: 454-460.〕 *Social learning theory postulates that peers, because they have undergone and survived relevant experiences, are more credible role models for others. Interactions with peers who are successfully coping with their experiences or illness are more likely to result in positive behavior change.〔Salzer, M., & Shear, S. L. (2002). "Identifying consumer-provider benefits in evaluations of consumer-delivered services." ''Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal,'' 25, 281–288.〕 *Social comparison means that individuals are more comfortable interacting with others who share common characteristics with themselves, such as a psychiatric illness, in order to establish a sense of normalcy. By interacting with others who are perceived to be better than them, peers are given a sense of optimism and something to strive toward.〔Festinger, L. (1954). "A theory of social comparison processes." ''Human Relations'', 7, 117–140.〕 *The helper-therapy principle proposes that there are four significant benefits to those who provide peer support:〔Riessman, F. (1965). "The 'Helper-therapy' principle." ''Social Work,'' 10, 27-32,〕〔Skovholt, T M. (1974). "The client as helper: A means to promote psychological growth." ''Counseling Psychologist,'' 43, 58-64〕 (a) increased sense of interpersonal competence as a result of making an impact on another person's life; (b) development of a sense of equality in giving and taking between himself or herself and others; (c) helper gains new personally-relevant knowledge while helping; and (d) the helper receives social approval from the person they help, and others.〔From Salzer and Shear, S. L. (2002), p. 282.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Peer support」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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