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Katy Payne she/her
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A trusted friend is more than just a companion. Sure, a good friend is someone to hang out with, but the connection often goes deeper. This person is there when times are good and when life gets difficult. Friends like this can be counted on to listen and offer support. They know you, partially because you feel safe sharing details of your life with them.
Who is this person?
Well, the answer depends on who you are, but research indicates that middle and high school students turn to their peers first in certain situations. Of the respondents to the 2023 Washington Healthy Youth Survey, more than 50% indicated they would most likely reach out to peers or friends if they were feeling sad or helpless.
“Students tend to know what’s going on with each other,” said OSPI Youth Engagement Program Supervisor Francesca Matias. “Since students are already talking to each other, why not give them the tools to potentially help each other?”
The Natural Helpers program started in Washington and is widely used in schools across the United States. OSPI is currently piloting a revised version of the program in five Washington school districts including Bainbridge Island, Nespelem, Waitsburg, Raymond, and the PRIDE Prep Charter School.
Peer relationships are at the heart of Natural Helpers. An anonymous and optional online survey is distributed to students in participating schools. The survey asks students to name 2–3 people they can talk to. Students mentioned the most are invited to become a “Natural Helper.”
The process of becoming a Natural Helper starts with training. Included in the training are sessions about helping skills, making referrals, and self-care.
“There’s a heavy emphasis on taking care of yourself first before taking care of others,” said Matias.
Natural Helpers are not trained to replace counselors or therapists.
This is the second year of the reimagined Natural Helpers program grant in Washington. In the first year, Matias and other OSPI staff worked to update the program’s lessons and develop a toolkit for schools to utilize.
“Schools wanted a choice in lessons,” said Matias. “There’s a lot of local control in the lessons; one might be focused on mental health supports and another might be focused on substance abuse.”
Matias and her colleagues are working with the pilot school districts to find out what’s working and what needs to be changed. The goal is to incorporate this feedback into the revised program with the goal of making the material broadly available by the start of the 2025–26 school year.