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• Peer mentors need to be educated on the significance of their role in the rehabilitation process and how their interpersonal behaviours can influence their mentees, both positively and negatively.
• Peer mentors should receive formalized and accessible training to ensure they are equipped with effective mentoring skills, but also providing them with tools to cope with physical, mental, and emotional stressors they may encounter as mentors.
• There is a need to continue diversifying and improving the types of services provided to SCI peer mentors in addition to one-on-one counselling, such as interactive educational workshops, for peer mentors to learn and practice coping skills, including mindfulness, meditation, and action-planning.
• As with other paid employees, SCI peer mentors should be trained to recognize when they are feeling depleted and be supported in seeking appropriate care from a health professional to provide quality psychosocial services to others.

Purpose: Spinal cord injury (SCI) peer mentors are individuals who, through their lived experiences, offer emotional support and empathetic understanding to others living with SCI to foster positive health, independence, and well-being. This study explored SCI peer mentors’ perceptions of their roles and experiences.

Materials and methods: Six paid or volunteer peer mentors participated in semi-structured interviews. We first explored the data using thematic narrative analysis to identify patterns, themes, and narrative types. Next, we analyzed the narrative types using creative analytical practices to construct and refine the stories.

Results: Based on our analysis, we developed two stories from a storyteller perspective to present a snapshot of SCI peer mentors’ experiences. The first story focuses on a “discovery” narrative from the point of view of Casey who adopted a person-centered approach to mentoring, focusing their attention on the needs of the mentee. The second story focuses on Taylor’s experiences with the “dark” side of peer mentorship, which focuses on the psychological toll of being a SCI peer mentor, from discussions about suicidal thoughts with clients to struggling with burnout.

Conclusions: Results provided insights for support services regarding the importance of supporting the mental health of mentors to ensure they continue delivering high quality mentorship.

Project lead and contact information: Shane N. Sweet, PhD; shane.sweet [at] mcgill.ca (shane[dot]sweet[at]mcgill[dot]ca)

Citation: Alexander, D., Caron, J. G., Comeau, J., & Sweet, S. N. (2022). An exploration of the roles and experiences of SCI peer mentors using creative non-fiction. Disability and Rehabilitation, 44(22), 6824–6832.

9I��������� eScholarship:

• The creative nonfiction stories in this study provided insights into some of the nuances of SCI peer men- torship relationships that are only broadly mentioned in past studies, including mentorship introduction, friendship–mentorship boundaries, and burdens on mentors.
• To develop and/or optimize SCI peer mentorship programs within rehabilitation, community-based organizations and rehabilitation institutions can consider an informal approach to facilitate mentor–mentee connections, while clearly defining roles and responsibilities for mentors.
• Because mentors may maintain contacts with mentees beyond rehabilitation settings, organizers of peer mentorship programs need to build support systems to ensure mentors can manage the extra demand.

Purpose: Research has examined peer mentorship to understand how it may help people with spinal cord injury (SCI) adapt and thrive. We still lack an in-depth understanding of the perspectives of SCI peer mentors and mentees on their dyadic relationship. This study was to explore the dyadic interactions and relationships between SCI peer mentors and mentees in a peer mentorship program delivered at a rehabilitation center.

Research Method: Between 2016 and 2017, we recruited two dyads of peer mentor and mentee with SCI (N = 4). Each participant completed three one-on-one interviews (N = 12). Data were analyzed using a creative nonfiction approach.

Results: Three unique dialogical stories were developed. Story 1 (A slow and steady start) described how mentors took a mentee-centered approach in building the relationship. Story 2 (Mentorship and friendship: negotiating the “grey zone”) highlighted how mentees and mentors experienced challenges in navigating the boundaries between mentorship and friendship. Story 3 (The “endless” job for mentor) showcased how the relationship could enter a phase in which it could affect mentors’ well-being.

Conclusions: The stories highlighted important attributes to the relationships between SCI mentors and mentees. Considerations were suggested for community-based SCI organizations to integrate peer mentorship into rehabilitation settings, including optimizing mentorship introductions and matching, defining mentors’ role explicitly, and building support systems for mentors. 

Project lead and contact information: Zhiyang Shi, PhD; zhiyang.shi [at] mail.mcgill.ca (zhiyang[dot]shi[at]mail[dot]mcgill[dot]ca)

Citation: Shi, Z., Caron, J. G., Comeau, J., Lepage, P., & Sweet, S. N. (2024). Creative nonfiction approach to explore peer mentorship for individuals with spinal cord injury. Rehabilitation Psychology. Advance online publication.

• SCI peer mentors should be supported in recognizing the warning signs of compassion fatigue, including physical, emotional, and psychological exhaustion, as these experiences can negatively affect their perceived effectiveness and willingness to engage with mentees.
• Peer support organizations should acknowledge that shared lived experience, while central to effective peer mentorship, can also increase vulnerability to compassion fatigue by triggering traumatic memories and prolonged emotional engagement with mentee suffering.
• Training and organizational supports should explicitly address internal processes such as self-judgment, rumination, and overidentification with mentees, while promoting skills associated with compassion fatigue resilience, including self-compassion, mindfulness, and healthy detachment.
• SCI community service organizations should foster environments that normalize boundary-setting, encourage social support among peer mentors, and validate mentors’ experiences, as these external supports were identified as key factors in promoting resilience to compassion fatigue.

Purpose: This study aimed to understand the experiences of compassion fatigue and compassion fatigue resilience among peer mentors within Canadian spinal cord injury (SCI) community service organizations.

Materials and methods: Eight experienced peer mentors completed two online daily diary reflections and participated in one semistructured interview. Using abductive thematic analysis, constructs within the compassion fatigue resilience model and self-compassion theory guided our interpretation of the peer mentors’ experiences.

Results: We found consequences associated with compassion fatigue and compassion fatigue resilience and describe the internal and external factors contributing to each. Peer mentors whose experiences aligned with compassion fatigue felt physically, psychologically, and emotionally exhausted. These feelings appeared to have a negative influence on the peer mentors’ perception of their effectiveness, affecting their ability to help their mentees or even leading them to avoid their mentees altogether. Factors such as shared lived experience, exposure to mentee suffering/stress, traumatic memories, lack of self-compassion, and other mentorship/life demands contributed to peer mentors’ compassion fatigue. Conversely, factors such as self-care, self-compassion, detachment from mentee suffering/stress, satisfaction from mentoring, and social support promoted resilience to compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue (resilience) was experienced by peer mentors as being a complex and multifaceted process including both internal and external factors. 

Conclusions: These findings highlight warning signs of compassion fatigue among peer mentors and identify the factors—and their interrelationships—that could build resilience to combat this fatigue. Organizations can use the information to tailor self-compassion programs for SCI peer mentorship.

Project lead and contact information: Olivia Pastore, PhD; olivia.pastore [at] mail.mcgill.ca (olivia[dot]pastore[at]mail[dot]mcgill[dot]ca)

Citation: Pastore, O. L., Herbison, J. D., Mcbride, C. B., Aslam, L., Casemore, S., Fortier, M. S., & Sweet, S. N.. (2024). “It Was the Whole Enchilada”: Peer Mentors’ Experiences of Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Fatigue Resilience Within Spinal Cord Injury Community Service Organizations. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 55(2), 104–127.

• Peer mentors within SCI community service organizations should be formally supported in addressing compassion fatigue and mental health challenges, as these experiences can affect their well-being, role satisfaction, and ability to engage effectively with mentees.
• SCI organizations may benefit from offering structured and accessible self-compassion training programs that are specifically tailored to the lived experiences and contextual realities of peer mentors, including their dual roles as mentors and individuals living with SCI.
• Online, group-based self-compassion programs that incorporate inclusive language, flexible participation options, and accessible materials represent a feasible approach for supporting peer mentors who may face physical, emotional, or logistical barriers to traditional in-person interventions.
• Embedding self-compassion training within organizational support structures may help SCI organizations promote peer mentor resilience, improve mentor retention, and enhance the quality of peer support services delivered to individuals with SCI.

Purpose: Individuals who serve as peer mentors within Canadian spinal cord injury (SCI) community service organizations are reporting compassion fatigue from their roles. One psychological resource that has the potential to reduce

compassion fatigue and promote overall mental health among peer mentors is self-compassion. However, there is

limited knowledge of any self-compassion programs that have been tailored to address the needs of these individuals.

To address this limitation, this paper outlines a protocol to examine the feasibility, acceptability, implementation, and

effectiveness of a tailored self-compassion program to reduce compassion fatigue and enhance compassion satisfaction,

self-compassion, and mental health among peer mentors within Canadian SCI community service organizations.

Materials and methods: The 6-week online program will be tested among 20 individuals (five separate groups of four) who serve as peer mentors within two Canadian SCI community service organizations. Feasibility and implementation data will be collected throughout the duration of the program and post program while acceptability data will be collected post program. To evaluate the effectiveness of the program, we will follow a single-group quasi-experimental design with surveys (pre/post/follow-up) and semi-structured interviews (post/follow-up).

Results: Results from this study are intended to inform the design of a self-compassion program for peer mentors within Canadian SCI community service organizations who experience compassion fatigue and reduced mental health.

Conclusions: Providing evidence for the effectiveness of this program could prove useful for Canadian SCI community service organizations who wish to better support and retain their peer mentors and thus improve the quality of support they provide to mentees.

Project lead and contact information: Olivia Pastore, PhD; olivia.pastore [at] mail.mcgill.ca (olivia[dot]pastore[at]mail[dot]mcgill[dot]ca)

Citation: Pastore, O. L., Fortier, M. S., Maffin, J., Mcbride, C. B., Aslam, L., & Sweet, S. N.. (2024). Protocol for a tailored self-compassion program for peer mentors within Canadian Spinal Cord Injury community service organizations. Discover Psychology, 4(1).