ABSTRACT

M any of us as counselors and therapists can tell stories of times when we have helped others, long before our training or credentials made the role official. The lay helper is a novice who helps others in a nonprofessional setting. Lay helpers are friends, coworkers, parents, sisters, and brothers. People seek them out for advice, or they are quick to offer it. Lay helpers have not received any formal training in counseling, and they tend to rely upon their own solutions to similar problems as the basis upon which they offer advice. At times, lay helpers may identify so strongly with others’ struggles that they become overinvolved, asserting specific and strong advice that may or may not be appropriate. Typically, an individual in the lay helper phase of counselor development “identifies the problem quickly, provides strong emotional support, and gives advice based on one’s own experience” (Rønnestad & Skovholt, 2003, p. 10). Oftentimes, individuals’ experiences as lay helpers catalyze their entry into the helping professions and related fields such as teaching and nursing.