In Common staffers are graduate and professional school students, who have been trained in peer counseling skills. Peer counseling is the use of active listening and problem-solving skills, along with knowledge about human development and psychological health, to counsel peers.

The basic premise behind peer counseling is that people are capable of solving most of their own problems of daily living, if given the opportunity. The peer counselor's role is not to solve other people's problems, but rather to assist them in finding their own solutions. Peer counselors do not tell people what they "should" do, nor do they generally give advice; peer counselors generally do not interpret or diagnose. As peer counselors, we are not professionals and we cannot assume that we know what a person is thinking or feeling any better than that person does. Rather, by using active listening and counseling skills, peer counselors helps the counselee clarify thoughts and feelings in order to explore various options and solutions.

It is In Common's goal to provide the Harvard community with well-trained individuals, who are concerned with alleviating the pressures of competitive academic life and the changes corresponding to it, and who can serve as a peer counseling and reference resource for the dilemmas experienced by graduate and professional students at Harvard.

(617) 384 - TALK

4- TALK

Sunday - Thursday,
8pm-midnight
(excluding University holidays)