How can peer support providers help individuals with PTSD develop social emotional skills?

Peer support is a form of mutual help, where people who have lived experience of a mental health condition share their knowledge, skills, and insights with others who are facing similar challenges. Peer support can be especially beneficial for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition that affects how they cope with and respond to traumatic events. In this article, you will learn how peer support providers can help individuals with PTSD develop social emotional skills, which are essential for recovery and well-being.

1 What are social emotional skills?

Social emotional skills are the abilities to understand, manage, and express your own emotions, as well as to empathize, communicate, and cooperate with others. These skills are crucial for building and maintaining healthy relationships, coping with stress, and achieving your goals. However, for individuals with PTSD, social emotional skills can be impaired or disrupted by the symptoms and effects of trauma, such as flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance, hyperarousal, guilt, shame, anger, and isolation.

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2 How can peer support help?

Peer support can help individuals with PTSD develop social emotional skills in several ways. First, peer support can provide a safe and supportive environment, where individuals can share their experiences, feelings, and thoughts without fear of judgment, rejection, or stigma. Peer support can also foster a sense of belonging, trust, and hope, which can reduce the sense of loneliness and alienation that often accompanies PTSD. Second, peer support can offer practical and emotional guidance, where individuals can learn from each other's coping strategies, recovery journeys, and successes. Peer support can also encourage individuals to set realistic and achievable goals, to celebrate their progress, and to acknowledge their strengths and challenges. Third, peer support can model and reinforce social emotional skills, where individuals can observe and practice how to communicate effectively, to listen actively, to express empathy and compassion, to resolve conflicts, and to collaborate with others. Peer support can also provide feedback and validation, where individuals can recognize and appreciate their own and others' emotions and perspectives.

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Alicia Alvarez, PhD

Director of Clinical and Research Services at UTCCB
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Peer support groups are a place where patients can discuss day-to-day problems with other people who have been through trauma. Support groups have not been shown to reduce PTSD symptoms, but they can help patients feel better in other ways. It can give them a sense of connection to other people, a peer support group could be a great addition to the treatment. Support groups can also help family members or friends who are caring for someone with PTSD.

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3 What are the benefits of social emotional skills?

Developing social emotional skills can have many benefits for individuals with PTSD, such as reducing the impact of trauma on their mental and physical health. This can be done by enhancing their ability to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and seek and accept help when needed. Furthermore, social emotional skills can improve an individual's quality of life and well-being, increasing their self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-care. It also allows them to find greater satisfaction and enjoyment in their relationships, activities, and hobbies. Ultimately, these skills promote recovery and resilience by enabling individuals to face and overcome their challenges, adapt to changing circumstances, and pursue their goals and aspirations.

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4 What are the challenges of social emotional skills?

Developing social emotional skills can present some challenges for individuals with PTSD. For instance, they may face difficulty processing difficult emotions, such as fear, sadness, anger, or guilt triggered by trauma reminders or sharing their experiences. They may also struggle to trust and open up to others if they have experienced betrayal, abuse, or neglect in the past. Additionally, they may have difficulty balancing their own and others' needs and boundaries if they have difficulty saying no, asking for help, or respecting their own and others' limits and preferences.

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Chris Trupp

Manager, Design Thinker & Well-being Expert.
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One of the challenges I have observed in this space is trying to help the client see the benefits to change. A lot of the time, people will be resistant to change purely because it's familiar. That's why walking beside the client and letting them guide you is essential in this work. Allow space for grief, sadness and difficult emotions and validate their feelings. Most people experiencing PTSD haven't even had their feelings validated by someone. You won't be able to convince someone of the benefits of developing skills until they themselves implement changes in their life and experience the positive outcomes first hand.

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5 How can peer support providers overcome these challenges?

Peer support providers can overcome these challenges by utilizing a trauma-informed approach, building rapport and trust, supporting self-determination and empowerment, using active listening and effective communication, and giving and receiving feedback and validation. This means being aware of the signs and impacts of trauma, creating a safe and respectful space, offering choices and control, being authentic, consistent, and reliable, expressing thoughts, feelings, and opinions clearly and respectfully, acknowledging strengths, efforts, and achievements of individuals, giving constructive criticism and suggestions.

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Chris Trupp

Manager, Design Thinker & Well-being Expert.
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Just being authentic in their approach. There's so much professional development out there for peer workers but if they don't have a baseline of authenticity to build off, no amount of professional development will help. Encouraging self reflection in workers is also imperative to conducting best practice in peer spaces.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Chris Trupp

Manager, Design Thinker & Well-being Expert.
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CO-DESIGN! Get the people you are helping into the design process! They are the experts and they will be the ones who will be MOST effective in guiding your values frameworks and practice models.

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How can peer support providers help individuals with PTSD develop social emotional skills?

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1 What are social emotional skills?

2 How can peer support help?

3 What are the benefits of social emotional skills?

4 What are the challenges of social emotional skills?

5 How can peer support providers overcome these challenges?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Peer Support

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How can peer support providers help individuals with PTSD develop social emotional skills?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 What are social emotional skills?

2 How can peer support help?

3 What are the benefits of social emotional skills?

4 What are the challenges of social emotional skills?

5 How can peer support providers overcome these challenges?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Peer Support

Rate this article

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