EQUIP peer-helping programme

Domain II · Behavioural & cognitive · Gibbs, Potter, Goldstein · 1995

What it is

EQUIP is a multi-component group programme, not a single therapy: a Positive Peer Culture (PPC) mutual-help group (Vorrath & Brendtro, 1985) into which a cognitive-behavioural skills curriculum adapted from Aggression Replacement Training (ART) is inserted. It is written for antisocial or…

Format

• Overall format
• Closed or semi-open small living-unit group with one trained group leader ("trainer" in Dutch studies, "coach"/group leader in US texts); method coaches support trainers. Group size is not stated in the sources; PPC groups are traditionally about 7 to 9 youths of the same sex.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• EQUIP is a multi-component group programme, not a single therapy: a Positive Peer Culture (PPC) mutual-help group (Vorrath & Brendtro, 1985) into which a cognitive-behavioural skills curriculum adapted from Aggression Replacement Training (ART) is inserted. It is written for antisocial or behaviour-disordered youth (roughly 12 to early 20s) in juvenile correctional and residential units; school and…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• complaint turning into accusation.
• checking that becomes interrogation.
• links to problem name Easily Misled.
• relabelling the person rather than the act.
• catastrophic predictions (Assuming the Worst).

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.