Students in need of an empathetic ear will soon have a new resource available to them. Gowri Chandra '09 and Baird Bream '10, co-organizers of the tentatively titled Peer Counseling Program said they hope to launch a new program by the end of January that will provide students with emotional support.
The purpose of the program is twofold, according to the organizers. Counselors will listen to students' issues and inform them about the other services available to them.
"The gist of the program is to provide a safe and confidential space for students to come and meet with other students to talk about absolutely everything," Bream said. "We want to stress the importance of having everything open for discussion, from 'I think I'm depressed' to 'I want to change my major' to 'I'm questioning my sexuality.' We want to remove the stigma from certain issues by opening all questions."
Once it begins, the Peer Counseling Program will be headed by Chandra and Kathryn Sonnabend '11, with an additional 10 to 15 counselors.
These students, however, will not "counsel."
"We're using the term 'counseling program' but looking for an alternative," Bream said. "'Counseling' implies a power dynamic - like we're telling them what to do, how to solve their problems. We don't want that."
"We want students to know that they have everything they need to solve their problems," he said.
"We're not trying to be counselors," said Chandra, "and I think that is precisely the strength of this program. Students can come and talk to their peers about issues that their peers have either experienced or can relate to."
Chandra and Bream said they firmly believe the program will be different from the help provided by a Meiklejohn Peer Advisor or a Residential Counselor, because of its openness and versatility.
"We want this program to be accessible to people who are dealing with more severe issues, but we also want to be open to people who need to rant or are having a bad day," Chandra said. "Many universities have programs similar to this one - Yale, Harvard, Cornell. I think the fact that this program exists in other universities demonstrates that it would not be superfluous here."
The co-organizers said a Brown alum's example also inspired to start the initiative. "I think that the actual moment that sparked this was a conversation with my friend Jake Rosenburg '08, who recently graduated." Rosenburg had spoken to Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn about starting such a program, Chandra said.
"I thought it was a great idea and I thought I definitely could have used this during my angsty Brown career," she added.
Chandra and Bream said they have received encouragement and support from representatives of the Dean's Office and Psychological Services. In a recent meeting, Klawunn and Director of Psychological Services Belinda Johnson told Chandra, Bream and a group of about 15 interested students that they would be given office space for their counselors in either the Sarah Doyle Women's Center or the Third World Center, Chandra said. The program will also receive a small starting budget for publicity and supplies.
"They were supportive of the idea and thought it was a really good thing for Brown to have," Chandra said.
Johnson has also agreed to serve as a consultant to the program. "In that role, I will serve as the 'point person' between the students who are running the program and Psychological Services," she wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. "I would anticipate that there are certain ways in which we may be helpful, but the details are very much in the planning stages at this point."
As far as gaining student support, Chandra and Bream said they have been recruiting from related organizations. But Chandra said they are also looking for anyone who "displays compassion and empathy."
