Holistic Peer Counseling (HPC) is a peer based counseling system which teaches the potentially radical perspective that distress patterns need loving attention to heal. We learn how to be both a client and a counselor so that we can heal ourselves and facilitate healing for others.
HPC is "Do It Yourself (DIY)" technology. This means every person who takes the course learns both counseling and clienting skills and practices both roles. In this way, the person being counseled is always in control. They know the techniques, and decide to utilize their triggers as catalysts for healing or not. HPC breaks the dynamic of, "I am healer" and "you heal me". It recognizes that we all have the ability to give and receive loving attention that provides an opportunity for healing.
HPC integrates peer counseling skills and embodiment practices. In HPC we learn that distress often traverses our minds, bodies and spirits. By practicing HPC, we heal ourselves and facilitate healing for others.
This course is challenging and rewarding for all who engage in the materials and practices. It is far from a quick fix solution. Join us if you are ready to work and provide support to those who are working in an environment focused on providing the loving attention we all deserve.
How does it work?
Once you register for Holistic Peer Counseling you will be contacted by an HPC mentor, who will be your point person for the course's duration. They will guide you through the material, ensure you're getting the most out of each module, and send you new material when you're ready. Lean on them; you will have sessions with them and they will also be your first peer counselor. After you get the hang of it, they will connect you with other members of the community so that you can experience peer counseling with new people.
The course is divided into four sections of three modules each, for a total of 12 modules. Each section takes you deeper into the material and focuses on the specific topic for which you've registered (sex, body, or birth).
How do I connect?
We use many types of technology to maximize your learning. Peers and mentors work with each other to devise the best amalgam of communication tools for their interactions.
- Google Docs. You will be given access to over 100 pages of power-packed written material that introduces you to various counseling and embodiment techniques. You also will gain access to audio recordings of guided meditations and exercises meant to strengthen your ability to counsel and dive into yourself and identify counseling material.
- Facebook. In the full program, you'll join the HPC Facebook group. This dynamic group provides real-time, 24/7 counseling support for people all over the world, offered by peer counselors of every skill level from a variety of backgrounds.
- In Person. When geography and personal ability allows, both mentoring and peer counseling sessions can be conducted in person.
- Google Hangout, Skype, Facebook Messenger. Both mentoring and peer counseling sessions can be conducted through video calls, email, or other messaging programs.
- Resource Shares. These include videos, books, articles, and trainings that can support you in your journey. You'll receive resource shares both from your mentor and in the Facebook group.
What HPC Students are saying
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Words cannot fully express what my experience with HPC has been. It truly has changed my life, in many ways. The tremendous shift it has made has been the biggest gift in my life. I am no longer stuck in old patterns of isolation self-pity and victim role. I have taken back my power, the reason this is possible with HPC is because the very nature of HPC is peer oriented, even though Nekole is the instructor she has always made us feel that we are on the same level.
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I am so grateful that Nekole does the work she does. It is desperately needed, and she has quite a gift. Our world would be a more connected, compassionate place if everyone had access to these resources and lived out this process.
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HPC has made me a better parent.
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HPC has made me a better healthcare provider.
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Thanks, Nekole, for figuring out how to do HPC and then, putting it out there for all who care to participate, to change their own lives, really understand how to hold the space for another, gain huge insight to all the patterns in our lives and give us the opportunity to fly every now and then.
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HPC has completely changed how I feel and react.
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Nekole has a very unique and holistic approach. She has gathered a lot of personal and shared wisdom, a range of techniques and attracted a diverse and deep range of individuals who support each other in a way that I have not experienced elsewhere. Unlike a lot of other courses, HPC has immediately practical value in changing awareness and responsiveness in day to day life experiences.
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HPC has changed my life.
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It is hard to capture just how great an impact both Nekole Shapiro and Holistic Peer Counseling (HPC) have had on my creating the family and relationships that I have most wanted.
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HPC has stimulated deep healing, expanding my awareness beyond my personal critique of social pressures and institutionalized forces that continue to take our power away. It is about finding empowerment amidst it all, and it comes from within. HPC has led me to the incredibly important work of exploring, identifying and transforming unhealthy and oppressive patterns that we internalize and take on as individuals. Most often, these patterns have deep ancestral roots-and with these tools, we can uncover them and heal from inter-generational trauma. This makes HPC truly revolutionary! It is a process of unraveling and reweaving as we uncover our most influential source of empowerment: ourselves. I am delighted to share that this resource is a gift that will guide and continue to be a part of my healing for the rest of my life, and comes at a time when the world needs it the most.
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HPC work is very, very personal. No-one can do the work for you. It follows your lead and goes as deep as you want to go. You do the work and you decide.
Holistic Peer Counseling can be adapted to many communities and topics. Contact me if you would like to integrate HPC in a way that is not yet represented on this site.
