EmBRACE Peer Support Program


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EmBRACE Peer Support Program

The Emory's Building Resilience and Compassion Enculturation (EmBRACE) Peer Support Program is an interprofessional, systems approach to decrease the lasting burdens of secondary trauma and moral distress experienced by Emory Healthcare and Emory University employees. Trained peer supporters include physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, chaplains and social workers.

Request a peer support session for yourself or refer a colleague

Our mission is to build an organizational culture conducive to a resilient and compassionate workforce by:

  • Decreasing burnout
  • Increasing resilience and well-being
  • Improving employee engagement/satisfaction
  • Increasing resilience and compassion leadership skills
  • Increasing/sustaining employee retention

EmBRACE Peer Support is free and confidential emotional support program available to all Emory employees experiencing distress often caused by their occupation. It was developed to address stressors typical for healthcare and health sciences settings, such as medical errors or near misses, difficult patient interactions, challenging team dynamics, dealing with change at work, difficulty balancing home and work life.

What sets peer support programs apart is the idea of immediate relatedness and understanding of the experiences shared, as individuals are typically paired based on their role (example: physicians with physician peer supporters, nurses with nurse peer supporters, etc). The sessions are facilitated by Emory employee volunteers who went through EmBRACE training. Though peer support is not therapy or counseling, peer supporters may suggest connecting with employee assistance programs as needed.

EmBRACE Peer Support is available to all Emory employees, including Emory Healthcare and Emory University. Emory employees can request a session for themselves at any time by completing the simple confidential EmBRACE form. Emory employees can also refer their colleagues. Examples include:

  • Leader or supervisor who is aware of an adverse event that happened and may have had an impact on their direct report
  • Colleague who is noticing that a colleague is "off"
  • HR representative that is aware of a stressful situation that an employee is going through
  • Spiritual Health or FSAP representative who may be aware of a stressful situation that could be alleviated by peer support

For questions, please email embracepeersupport@emoryhealthcare.org.

To join the waitlist please complete our peer support waitlist form.

EmBRACE Peer Supporters have training in compassionate and reflective listening, psychological first aid, secondary trauma, and various methods of dealing with stress including Community Resiliency Model (CRM) and Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT). EmBRACE is NOT therapy or counseling, and our peer supporters are not there to give you advice or solve the issues. They are there to hold space as you share your concerns and reflect what they hear, provide perspective, they might share their own experience and suggest additional resources. They are more "guide on the side", and less "sage on the stage."

  • To be partnered with an EmBRACE Peer Supporter, please fill out this form. In this very brief form – should take less than 5 minutes – you will be asked general questions, like your name, role at Emory, general reasons for reaching out and preferred contact information. All information will remain confidential, and will only be shared with our small team to match you with an appropriate peer supporter.
  • Once we received your request you should see a confirmation email within 24-36, and another update within 3 days with the name and contact of your peer supporter, who will be reaching out proactively to find time to chat.
  • You session with the EmBRACE Peer Supporter will last around 30 min and be flexible to the format that works for both of you (phone call, zoom, or an in person meeting). You may choose to have 1 or 2 follow up conversations. After 3rd session if more help is needed a peer supporter will typically refer you to the employee assistance program (BHS for healthcare employees, and FSAP for university employees).

To become an EmBRACE Peer Supporter a volunteer Emory employee must go through the EmBRACE training. There are typically 2 training sessions held every year (spring and fall). To join the waitlist for the next EmBRACE Peer Supporter training please email embracepeersupport@emoryhealthcare.org

EmBRACE Peer Supporters utilize evidence-based tools and strategies to provide structured, timely, and consistent support to peers who are experiencing or at risk for physical, psychological, or emotional distress and burnout. With a focus on individual wellness, social community, and structural change, peer supporters recognize the importance of addressing both individual and modifiable organizational factors which adversely affect resilience capacity. In this role, peer supporters are vital to the mission, vision, values, and strategic priorities of the organization, as well as the EmBRACE program.

Peer supporters possess and demonstrate:

  • Self-awareness, reflective practice
  • Ethical behavior and practices
    • Caring
    • Compassion
    • Discernment
    • Trustworthiness
    • Integrity
    • Conscientiousness

  • Complete EmBRACE Peer Supporter training
  • Facilitate peer-to-peer support sessions
  • Attend and participate in debriefing sessions
  • Provide timely updates on their engagement
  • Contribute to continuous quality improvement efforts
  • Engage in networking and continuous learning/professional development