LiveWell Peer Wellness Coaching (PWC)
Peer Wellness Coaching (PWC) is a great option for students who are looking to strengthen and enhance their personal well-being, solve problems effectively, and work toward intentional change in their lives and self.
PWC is a FREE service offered by our Peer Health Educators for students at the University of Washington in Seattle. A few of our most experienced Peer Health Educators go through additional and in-depth training and supervision to be able to serve as Peer Wellness Coaches. Our Peer Wellness Coaches are trained in evidence-supported models of coaching and relational support. They use a strengths-based, multicultural lens in supporting you during coaching appointments.
Peer Wellness Coaching is NOT psychological counseling or therapy of any sort. If you are struggling with a psychological issue that is severely impacting your functioning and well-being, we suggest you schedule an appointment with the University Counseling Center to see a licensed professional. We are also NOT an on-call or emergency service; please call 911 in all life-threatening situations.
Peer Wellness Coaching doesn’t generally operate in the Summer, but requests can sometimes be accommodated via zoom. If you are requesting a PWC appointment during the Summer, please email peercoach@uw.edu
- PWC appointments are 40 minutes
- Select the location of your appointment when you schedule (Zoom; LiveWell office (109 Elm Hall); several locations around campus for your convenience)
- If your appointment is on Zoom, we require you to have your camera on throughout the appointment for best experience
What’s a coaching appointment like?
A PWC appointment is a collaborative process between you and your Peer Wellness Coach to identify areas of growth and barriers to success. Wellness coaching is focused on your holistic well-being and aims to strengthen your self-awareness, skills and tools, and empower you to do what’s best for YOU. Coaches support you with a variety of skills, tools, knowledge, and resources that they are trained in.
Common subjects students use Peer Wellness Coaching for:
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Loneliness
- Communication skills
- Substance use
- Sleep
- Self-image/worth
- Relationships
- Sexual health
- Time management/motivation
- Academic pressures and stress
- Finances
- Environmental issues
- Career/resume/internship stress & success
- Social media/news stress and media management skills
What happens when I schedule an appointment?
You will receive a confirmation e-mail from Calendly within an hour of making an appointment that has location details and your finalized meeting time for your coaching appointment. You will receive additional reminder e-mails (and texts if you sign up for them) before your scheduled appointment. Please cancel or re-schedule at least 2 days in advance.
If you need a time that isn’t offered, please email peercoach@uw.edu and we we will see what we can do.
What are some reasons people utilize PWC?
Students utilize our Peer Wellness Coaching for a diverse range of reasons such as wanting to:
- more effectively manage their stress
- improve emotional health
- work through conflict
- learn better communication skills
- achieve academic related goals
- improve sleep; minimize disruptions and increase quality and quantity of sleep
- learn effective conflict resolution skills for managing roommate issues or relationship issues
- learn how to budget, save, and manage personal finances
- establish routines and practices to nurture positive emotion, meaning, purpose, engagement, and flow
- strengthen self-awareness for improved emotional regulation and self-management
- make changes to other parts of their well-being
Contact information
The Peer Wellness Coaching Program is managed and supervised by the Assistant Director of LiveWell and can be reached at lwad@uw.ed for questions or feedback.
Other types of campus coaches
While LiveWell’s Peer Wellness Coaching program is aimed at health and wellness topics, skills, and development, we have a complementary program on campus through Academic Support Programs called Academic Success Coaching.
UW Academic Support Programs offers free, one-on-one meetings with a trained academic success coach. The academic success coach is a peer who works with students to help build general skills for academic success. Topics include:
- Effective study strategies
- Transitioning to the UW
- Time management skills
- Setting and working towards goals
- Finding campus resources
- Motivation
Current Peer Wellness Coaches
Our Peer Wellness Coaches are members of our Peer Health Education Program and have specialized training and ongoing staff supervision.
