Life can be overwhelming at times. Whether you’re juggling work and family, navigating a personal challenge, or working on long-term goals like improving your health or communication, you don’t have to do it alone. At Anchor Within Counseling, our Peer Support & Skills Training program is designed to walk alongside you, offering real-world tools, relatable guidance, and a path toward greater independence and well-being.

This program isn’t therapy, but it works with therapy. While your licensed clinician helps you process deeper emotions and long-standing patterns, our peer specialists provide hands-on support to help you apply what you’re learning in your everyday life.

What Is Peer Support & Skills Training?

Our Peer Support & Skills Training program pairs you with trained specialists who offer professional guidance informed by lived experience. Many of our peer support providers have walked similar paths—whether it’s managing stress, parenting, navigating systems of care, or balancing work and education.

These team members bring compassion, empathy, and insight, along with practical, evidence-based strategies to help you:

• Manage daily stressors

• Build emotional regulation skills 

• Improve communication and relationships

• Navigate health, education, or employment goals

• Develop parenting tools or family routines

• Strengthen self-confidence and motivation

Think of your peer specialist as a professional support person who helps you turn goals into action. Someone who’s been through their own growth journey and now walks alongside others on theirs.

What Makes Peer Support Unique?

Unlike traditional therapy, peer support is non-clinical, collaborative, and rooted in mutual respect. Peer specialists offer what we like to call a “professional friendship with clear boundaries,” meaning they build rapport and connection, but with the same level of professionalism and structure you’d expect in a healthcare setting.

Here’s what sets it apart:

• Lived experience + training: Peer specialists draw from both personal insight and formal training in evidence-based support techniques.

• Real-world focus: They help you with day-to-day skills that impact your quality of life, like building routines, organizing priorities, or practicing conflict resolution.

• Goal-oriented: Every session is centered around your unique goals, no matter how big or small.

• Culturally responsive: Our team provides individualized support that respects your values, identity, and life experiences.

Who Can Benefit from Peer Support & Skills Training?

Peer Support & Skills Training can have an impact when: 

• You are working with a therapist and want more hands-on support in applying their goals

• You feel overwhelmed and want help organizing life’s demands

• You need practical strategies for parenting, job readiness, or emotional self-care

• You want to strengthen resilience and build long-term independence

• You appreciate support from someone who’s navigated similar challenges

Whether you’re dealing with stress, adjusting to a new life phase, or simply want to improve your daily habits and relationships, peer support provides the extra boost you need to move forward.

Working Together: How Peer Support Complements Therapy

At Anchor Within Counseling, we believe in whole-person care–mental, emotional, and practical. While your therapist helps you uncover patterns, process emotions, and heal, your peer specialist helps you implement change in real time.

For example, if your therapist is helping you explore anxiety and boundaries, your peer support specialist might:

• Help you practice saying no in real-world scenarios

• Work with you to create a daily schedule that includes self-care

• Role-play difficult conversations

• Brainstorm ways to manage anxiety at work or in social settings

This tag-team approach bridges the gap between insight and action, helping you build momentum, stay motivated, and see progress in your daily life.

A Flexible and Accessible Resource

We want this support to be available to as many people as possible. Here’s how to get started:

• Already working with a therapist at Anchor Within Counseling? Ask them to refer you directly to our Peer Support & Skills Training program.

• Working with a therapist outside our practice? No problem! Your current therapist can still refer you to our Community-Based Program by filling out the PSS Service Referral form.

We’ll follow up with you and make sure you’re matched with a peer specialist who fits your goals and needs.

You Deserve Support That Moves With You

Life’s challenges can feel heavy, but with the right support, they don’t have to weigh you down. Our Peer Support & Skills Training program is here to help you build a stronger, more empowered future–one step, one skill, one breakthrough at a time.

Contact us or speak with your therapist about connecting with our Peer Support & Skills Training team. Let’s build something strong—together.