IACP Conference Presentation Materials

The Healing Power of Relationships: Cultivating Connections in Peer Support

Our panel participants have extensive experience developing peer support in medium, small and rural departments and the experince to understand how to promote adoption of peer support. Building relationships increases trust, safety and success of peer support. Developing practical and effective training to increase understanding and engagement as a peer supporter. Trauma informed care principles inform cultural changes made from the ground up and top down.

Peer Support is a first line protective factor. It's about relationships. Stop trying for perfection or the latest gadget/idea hoping officers will engage with peer support or seek help. Please see the 20 Suggestions to Engage your Peer Support Team below. Peer Support interactions should not be limited to traumatic events.
Not every peer program will look the same. Peers know their culture and will find what will work in your department. The 10 officer depart will look different from a 50 officer depart and from a 1000 officer city depart. Learn to read the culture of your department for effective building. Please see the Organizational Change Peer Support Framework for Implementation below.
Peer Support efforts are supported by clinicians, treatment centers, and other peer support teams. High standards of care are required. Partnerships and processes needed to be successful must be defined and Peer Supporters are empowered to correct or eliminate services that are not working. Please see the FOP Provider Vetting Guide.

Building Co-Worker realationships to build and sustain peer support.

To build high-quality relationships with coworkers, the Integrative Theoretical Framework (Bradley, Greer, & Sanchez-Burks, 2023) suggests prioritizing strategies that are high in involvement but low in change-orientation. Research indicates that "change bias"—the urge to immediately fix or "reframing" a coworker’s feelings—can actually backfire by making the person feel unheard.

Instead, use the following strategies to foster trust and psychological safety:

1. Low Change-Oriented Strategies (The "Relationship Builders")These strategies focus on validating the coworker's experience without trying to alter it.

Inquiry: Asking open-ended questions like, "Tell me more about why you're feeling that way". This demonstrates interest and curiosity, which are strong signals of recognition and value.
Validation: Responding to both positive and negative emotions in a way that confirms the coworker's feelings are legitimate. For positive emotions, this means being engaged and excited ("That's a huge win, you worked so hard for that!"); failing to do this can actually weaken a bond.
Active Listening: Simple acknowledgment and "just being with someone" is often more effective for regulating their emotions than "poking at" or trying to "fix" the problem.

2. Context-Dependent Strategies (The "Supportive Builders")Use these when a coworker has specifically signaled they are open to your help or perspective.

Reappraisal/Reframing: Offering a new perspective (e.g., "Remember that they all voted to promote you") only works well when the coworker is looking for a way to shift their mindset. If used too early, it may feel like minimizing their feelings.
Mutual Sharing: Engaging in "co-regulation" by sharing your own similar experiences helps build a sense of camaraderie and reduces feelings of isolation.
Positive Empathy: For coworkers experiencing success, practicing "positive empathy" (feeling joy alongside them) is a powerful tool for increasing relationship closeness and future collaboration.

3. Strategies to Avoid (The "Relationship Blockers")

Ignoring/Avoidance: Research shows that avoiding a coworker’s emotions is costly and can damage team performance and long-term trust.
Minimization: Phrases like "Don't be nervous" or "It's not a big deal" are high-change-oriented but low-involvement. They signal that you find their emotion unimportant or inconvenient.

20 Ideas to build your Peer Support team

Wesponder Peer Support Team.

Improve Peer Support Skillsthrough active listening

Active Listening

One of the most effective relationship building skills peer suporters can have is Active Listening skills. Developing this skill is very important when our natural instinct (and our work training) is to be a fixer.

Focus your attention on the person

Put down your phone, don't answer that text or check your feed. Turn away from your computer. If you are glancing at other things which are catching your attendion, then you are telling the person that what they have to say isn't really that important to you. You send a message of "I'm not really here for you." That will impact your peer support efforts in a negative manner.

Actions you can take include leaning in/leaning towards the other person. This let's the person know you are engaged and invested in what they have to say.

Maintain eye contact as it feels comfortable. This let's the person know you are following the conversation and ready to respond.

Silence and nodding indicate your openess for the person to continue.

Use phrases that encourage conversation

Thank them for having the couragae to meet with you and share what is going on in thier lives. This takes courage and vulnerability. They have placed their trust in you. Peer Support may be the first time they have shared thier story. Peer Support may be an opportunity for you to be the first person to hear their story and not try to FIX IT or share an opinion about what is going on.

Please tell me more.

This phrase shows you are listening and want more informtion. You may need this to clarify comments that they are making. .

Go on.

This phrase let's the person know you are aware of the pause in the conversation and you are encouraging them to continue sharing.

I'm Listening.

Sometimes people are hesitant to start talking, or to keep talking, and this invites them to continue sharing.

Let me see if I got that correctly.

This phrase shows you are interested in what they are saying.

What lead you to that conclusion?

This phrase helps continue the flow of the conversation.

I can't know exactly what that was like, but I can really feel how much it affected you.

This phrase shows you empathize with the person.

I am sorry you have to face that.

Acknowledge that the situation is hard and you will be there with them. It is important to tell them when you will or will not be available, including late night text responses, meeting at a place that serves alcohol vs meeting at a place that serves coffee. Don't promise the be there all the time if you might be unable to fulfill that rpomise.