Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Vol 56(6), Dec 2025, 440-451; doi:10.1037/pro0000649
Most people in need of mental health support do not receive adequate treatment. Peer counseling, the provision of emotional support as a service by nonlicensed helpers, can mitigate this gap in services by providing some elements of mental health support (e.g., the benefits of self-disclosure and empathy) to many people who would otherwise remain underserved. However, little research exists regarding which types of clients would, and would not, be appropriate recipients of these services. A three-phase Delphi study was used to survey three groups of expert stakeholders: 17 U.S. state psychology board members, 14 researchers who study what makes therapy effective, and 19 experienced peer counselors. Each expert group rated the degree to which they believe various mental health conditions can be appropriately treated via peer counseling services in the absence of concurrent treatment by a licensed provider. Ratings were provided on a 5-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Board members do not believe any clients should work with a peer counselor if they are not concurrently seeing a licensed professional. In contrast, peer counselors believe any client can benefit from peer counseling. Researchers’ views are generally intermediate between the views of the other two groups. Study findings highlight areas of consensus and disagreement between expert groups, which can help practitioners ethically and effectively design services for a large, diverse client population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)