IVCC launches peer mentor program

The two newest additions to Illinois Valley Community College’s mental health team look like students – because they are.

Peers are likely to encounter Danica Scoma and Bhawna as classmates, hanging out with friends between classes, or at activities. The pair has also been hosting several activities recently to promote good mental health and an awareness of IVCC’s new Peer Mentor program.

“That relatability is the Peer Mentor program’s strength,” said Jessica Swenson, who developed programs now operating at IVCC and two other colleges.

“The biggest connection to a student is another student. Students can look across the table at someone going through the same thing they are,” said Swenson, the founder and executive director of Transformative Growth, IVCC’s mental health counseling partner.

Scoma and Bhawna say they are good listeners who share their classmates’ insecurities and frustrations but also can share some survival techniques.

Scoma said she wanted to be part of the program because “I liked the idea of something informal. I could relate easier to a peer if I had a problem and was nervous to go to an adult staff member. We try to be friendly and non-judgmental, and everything is confidential. I try to help them realize what’s going on with them and what they can do.”

Scoma’s effervescent personality has become familiar on campus, but a few years ago she worried about fitting in at her high school.

“I wanted to make connections, but I didn’t know who to go to. Then something clicked and I wanted to get involved so I didn’t leave high school disappointed that I hadn’t been involved.”

She also shares another concern familiar to her peers.

“I have so many ideas about what I want to do, and it’s hard to pick one for the rest of my life.”

She would like to roll all her interests in language, art, travel and social work into a career.

As an international student who is oceans away from her family in India, Bhawna is balancing work, study and life on her own and can relate to other students’ challenges.

“I experience a different country and a different culture, and I try to keep an open mind and think outside the box.”

The agriculture student also relies on things that make her happy, like cooking or music or introspection, and hopes to share her faith that a new day can bring a new page in life and a new start.

“I can help the people I meet stay calm, which allows us to make better decisions,” Bhawna said. “I’m a good listener. Sometimes you need a person to just listen and nothing else.”

Swenson agrees that some students prefer “just walk in and talk” to the intensity of a clinical therapy session. Peer programs expand mental health services and choices but are not intended to be a substitute for clinical therapy or medical care when that is called for.

“There are so many things that a peer can help with and that we give them the tools to do,” she said.

Peer mentors are supervised by and meet regularly with professionals who remain on call to the mentors and available for referrals. Mentors undergo 60 hours of training before they ever meet with students, during which they role-play encounters and learn to set boundaries.

“They are trained to understand what the role is and what it is not. A peer mentor can be a really weird position, because it’s not a friend, either. They are not junior therapists. They don’t diagnose or give advice or do testing,” Swenson said.

Recommended by Dean of Student Success Crystal Credi, IVCC candidates underwent job interviews and passed background checks.

“Bhawna and Danica are truly approachable and relate to students,” Credi said. “Their personalities are different, yet complementary. They have made a noticeable impact in a short time.”

Peer-to-peer counseling is not a new concept and has been used in alcohol and drug rehab, veterans' groups and other organizations for decades.

“There is a need for individual mental health services and for a community response that helps a whole bunch of people, not just one. You can’t do one without the other,” Swenson said.

Swenson developed her first community peer program in 2016 tailored to a college veterans group that wanted to adapt to college after their military experiences, but did not need the same guidance typically given to incoming freshmen.

“To expand access to mental health services, Illinois and other states want colleges to develop peer programs,” she said.

Some states have even begun to extend mental health services to younger children too.

Scoma and Bhawna are available on campus five days a week. They accept walk-ins during office hours at the Counseling Center on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays or at their office inside the Adult Education Center, Room CTC 220, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They can be reached at ivccpeers@transformativegrowth.org.