Welcome!!

Welcome to the National Helper Blog!  This informative blog is sponsored by the National Association of Peer Program Professionals (NAPPP). The mission of NAPPP is to help adults establish, train, supervise, maintain and evaluate peer programs. Using the NAPPP Standards and Ethics as a guiding principle, NAPPP helps adults through networking, leadership training, certification, and programmatic problem solving. NAPPP is a national organization with recognized Standards and Ethics, effective programs, and an evaluation protocol.

If you have a peer helper program or looking to start your first program, please feel free to use and share our resources!  Peer helping is part of peer programs or supportive services initiated by peers in diverse settings. Often, peer helpers are young people, trained and supervised by professionals, who adhere to ethics and standards endorsed by helping professionals and NAPPP.

Peer helpers often become preventive agents who identify problems and encourage others to seek the necessary help from appropriate professionals. Peer helpers provide people with opportunities for learning, guidance, emotional support, and growth which translates to reduced drug and alcohol involvement, higher academic skills, reduced HIV/AIDS transmission, reduced unintended pregnancy, reduced conflict, increased understanding of differences, and increased service to others. By helping others, peer helpers often increase their own self-esteem and personal functioning.


Peer programs include people helping other people. When people experience frustration, worries, concerns, and other life events, they typically turn to their friends, not professionals for help, advice, practical assistance or support. The peer programs that NAPPP supports has various names such as peer helping, peer counseling or listening, peer ministry, peer education, peer leadership, peer health education, peer mediators, peer tutoring, and peer mentoring. Peers do not replace licensed or certified professionals or practitioners, but often serve as an extension of the services these professionals provide. Through much research and evaluation, peer programs have been found to be one of the most proven and effective prevention strategies.

Please stop by our blog anytime and feel free to website, face book, and twitter page !