Experience of Spiritual Coaching for Peer Educators

BACKGROUND: To protect against burnout syndrome and enhance the work capacity of peer educators who work with those who inject drugs under “A project to end AIDS, reduce new HIV infections and decrease tuberculosis in vulnerable populations of People Who Inject Drugs (PWID)”. This research aimed to study the process of the spiritual development of peer educators through exposure to spiritual coaching. The spiritual coaching in this study incorporated theoretical techniques of counseling psychology as well as an effective coaching approach.

METHODS: This study was a qualitative research using the narrative approach. The data were collected from five in-depth interviews of peer educators who received spiritual coaching. The data were then analyzed by using thematic analysis.

RESULTS: Three focus areas of the spiritual development of peer educators were found to be important/central: 1) knowledge and understanding, 2) enhancing experience and practice, and 3) belief in the spiritual to help with the field work.

CONCLUSION: Base on the interaction between the counseling psychology theories and other related theories, the results of this study supported the benefits arising from improvements in the spiritual identity of the peer educators. This was reflected in the enhanced mental energy and work strategies. The latter finding can be applied to other peer educators who work with those who inject drugs in other settings.