Making Connections After Brain Injury: A Guide for Social Peer Mentors

Introduction

We hope the following information will help to answer some of your questions about what being a social peer mentor is all about. This manual is designed to be a resource you can use to help you in mentoring others, to come up with social activities that they enjoy, and to assist others in making and keeping friendships. The manual will cover much of the information that you will be going over in the training sessions with the therapist. You can then keep this manual with you as a reference after you complete the training sessions. In addition to the training sessions and this manual, you are encouraged to contact the On-Call Therapist if you have any questions or need assistance at anytime after you begin mentoring. The On-Call Therapist is there to help you with information and problem-solving, should you need any assistance.

This manual will cover the following pieces of information:

1. Description of the role of a mentor.
2. General information about brain injury.
3. Information about common problems experienced after brain injury and ideas about how to help.
4. Skills that a mentor should help the peer partner to develop.
5. Ideas about social activities.
6. Worksheets to help your peer partner learn to plan social activities.
7. Tips on providing feedback about social communication issues.
8. Information on what to do in emergency or problem situations when mentoring.
9. Resources that might be helpful to you or your peer partner.

We hope you will find the role of being a social peer mentor to be both rewarding and challenging. Helping others to develop satisfying social activities and relationships can make a very positive difference in their lives. Remember that a good sense of humor and sense of fun can make this experience rewarding for both you and your peer partners. We applaud your willingness to use your time to help others!

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