Peer Support and Wellness Ambassadors
Peer Supporters are trained upper-year Saint Mary’s students who offer peer-to-peer mental health support. Peer Supporters have lived experience with mental health and understand the challenges of being a student. The Peer Support Program is confidential and open to all students. You can meet with a Peer Supporter one on one during their drop-in office hours to discuss mental health, learn resiliency and coping strategies, and find out about resources (schedule below). You can also join their events and other programming. To contact a Peer Supporter, email peer.support@smu.ca.
Frequently Asked Questions
Peer Supporters are expected to uphold confidentiality. They receive training on confidentiality to help ensure all students feel safe accessing support.
Peer Support is free for all Saint Mary’s students. All students are welcome to participate.
Peer Supporters must be in second year or above.
Peer Supporters undergo three days of training (approximately 20 hours) on topics such as helping skills, responding to distress, and stigma with the Stay Connected Mental Health Project. They attend weekly meetings with an on-campus supervisor from the Counselling Centre and monthly network meetings with Peer Supporters from other university campuses. They are educated on special topics such as LGBTQ+ mental health and sexual violence, among others. They do not provide professional counselling.
The Counselling Centre at Saint Mary's University
4th Floor Student Centre, SC406
923 Robie Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3H 3C3
Phone: 902-420-5615