Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program

Have an urgent mental health concern or emergency? Please visit our Emergencies page for 24/7 resources.  

What is the Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program? 

Middle Earth offers critical peer assistance services to UAlbany students — especially during evenings and on weekends, when other support services are harder to access. We've created a video introduction to our Peer Assistance Program that explains more about it.

Our student volunteers are trained by mental health professionals to help their peers address the common concerns many college students face, such as: 

  • Adjustment to college life 
  • Academic concerns 
  • Relationships and sex 
  • Alcohol and/or drug concerns 
  • Sexual and gender identity 
  • Finding sources of help and support  
  • Just needing to talk 

Some students are more comfortable speaking with trained peers. What you tell us is private. If you wish, you may remain anonymous (meaning you don’t tell us your name).  

We’ll listen and help you arrive at your own best solution.

 

How can Middle Earth help?

Call the Peer Assistance Hotline

Call our Peer Assistance Hotline at 518-442-5777.  

The hotline is available during the fall and spring semesters, with the following schedule:

  • Monday through Thursday: 1 p.m. to midnight
  • All weekend, starting 1 p.m. Friday until midnight Sunday
Sign up for Peer Wellness Coaching

Peer Wellness Coaching is a free, confidential service for all UAlbany students.  

Students who sign up for wellness coaching meet with a peer coach in person for one to three, 45-minute sessions to: 

  • discuss ways to improve or maintain their overall well-being 
  • identify and set goals for change 
  • receive support in making those changes 

Your coach will recommend resources for continuing your work, including referrals to on-campus services (such as CAPS, Recreation & Wellness, Gender & Sexuality Resource Center, etc.) and off-campus options. 

After your third appointment, you can also meet with another coach to continue working on your other short-term goals. 

Our Peer Wellness Coaches complete multiple semesters of supervised training in motivational interviewing to help students with healthy eating, physical activity, sleep habits, technology use, work/life balance, study habits, social connections and campus involvement. 

There are two ways to sign up:

Request Programming or Partnership

Our Peer Wellness Ambassadors offer programs, consultation, theme weeks and resource development on campus. 

Campus groups — such as student organizations (including fraternities and sororities), athletic teams, residence halls and academic classes — may request presentations and workshops on topics such as: 

  • Alcohol and other drug harm reduction 

  • Identifying and coping with stress 

  • Procrastination and time management 

  • Dimensions of well-being 

  • Self-care 

  • Balancing school and life 

  • Body image and eating 

  • Diversity issues 

To request programming or partnership, please email [email protected]. 

A student sits inside the Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program office at a desk speaking on the phone while taking notes on a pad of paper.

 

How can I get involved in Middle Earth?

Anyone can give to Middle Earth. Your donation will help us continue our more than 50-year history of supporting UAlbany students' health and well-being.
 

Undergraduate Students

We accept applications for Hotline Assistants, Peer Wellness Ambassadors and Peer Wellness Coaches each semester. All registered undergraduate students are eligible to apply.  

Selections are made toward the end of each semester, then training classes begin for the following semester and last for the entire term. Course credit is available through the School of Education’s Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology. 

Apply online. Applications are due on November 15 for spring semester training or on April 15 for fall semester training.

Visit our MyInvolvement page for additional information.

Graduate Students

We encourage graduate students to review the Health & Well-being Internships & Training Programs page, which outlines available graduate assistantships and internships. 

Graduate students can also get involved with Middle Earth by enrolling in our independent study course in Prevention and Health Promotion (ECPY 697 at the master's level and ECPY 890 at the doctoral level).

Questions? Email [email protected].