Super-Peer Review

Offering support and advice to young adults experiencing mental health problems. On the app, I was expected to respond to posts made by users. In these responses, I would state what I would do in their given situation, point them in the direction of professional resources and offer a general helping hand if they wanted someone to talk to. My responses were also moderated and assessed to ensure I was providing effective support and guidance.

I have strongly developed my time-management skills through the expectation of completing a minimum number of replies each hour, ensuring I log-in for my shift on time and complete the placement hours around university. Through frequently communicating and talking with people experiencing mental health difficulties, I have extensively developed my communication abilities in this particular field. I have also developed a range of other skills, including: initiative, problem-solving and working with more vulnerable individuals.

This placement involves a considerable amount of self-responsibility and independence in order to best support users and to ultimately get the best possible experience out of the placement. It is largely your responsibility to ensure you are trained to the best possible level and to keep up-to-date with academic resources. This placement is also conducted remotely, which evidently places a vast responsibility to keep up with the demands of the placement on us.

I was always able to communicate with my placement supervisor through email and occasional meetings. A large proportion of this placement focused upon training and familiarising ourselves with training materials and model responses. However, I would have preferred to have more frequent meetings and pieces of advice from my supervisor as sometimes it felt like I didn’t receive much feedback on the advice and guidance that I was providing to users on the app.

As the placement was conducted remotely, it is hard to truly assess the culture and general atmosphere of the organisation. However, from the discussions and meetings I had with members of the organisation, I felt very welcomed and supported in order to make the most out of the experience. The true ethos and focus of this organisation is to support those experiencing mental health difficulties and to better their lives and futures.

I found this placement extremely valuable in developing a range of skills particularly relevant to the career I wish to anticipate and ultimately, it was an enjoyable experience. I was able to receive and provide advice to others in a field I am interested in, whilst further developing my knowledge and understanding of many key issues and topics within the area of mental health. Overall, I strongly recommend participating in this enjoyable placement experience.

Yes

I would strongly recommend making the most out of this experience through participating in frequent training and keeping up-to-date with professional resources provided. It can be quite daunting being expected to provide advice to others on issue you may not be too familiar with, but don’t feel afraid to reach out to others involved in the organisation and to do some extra reading or consideration of topics that go beyond those encountered previously.