team members
A small leadership team that also supported one another.
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PRACTICE STORY 03 · PROJECT LEADERSHIP
When connection was disrupted, we built a new pathway to support.
During Wuhan’s COVID-19 lockdown, continuous high-pressure news, prolonged isolation, and disrupted relationships affected nearly everyone around me. After recognizing the same anxiety and difficulty sleeping in my family and friends, I proposed an online peer-support initiative within the university student union.
60-SECOND SUMMARY
- Situation
- During Wuhan’s COVID-19 lockdown, isolation, anxiety, insomnia, and disrupted relationships were affecting students and their families.
- My Role
- Project lead responsible for the framework, proposal, workflows, weekly coordination, and leadership of a six-person peer-support team.
- Action
- Built an online community reaching nearly 500 students, established moderation and feedback processes, shared non-diagnostic screening tools, and partnered with the counseling center.
- Outcome
- Students gained peer connection and a clearer path to professional support. During the first 30 days, available counseling appointments filled and a waitlist became necessary.
- Boundary
- Peer support was not presented as therapy. Risk escalation and clinical follow-up remained with qualified professionals.
community members
Students connected through an online mutual-support community.
days to capacity
Available online counseling appointments filled and a waitlist became necessary.
Peer connection and professional care served different roles within one coordinated pathway.
Shared distress
Isolation, anxiety & disrupted connection
Peer community
Mutual support and structured activities
Self-screening
Tools for awareness, not diagnosis
Professional follow-up
Counseling center outreach & support
As project lead, I developed the framework, drafted the proposal, established workflows, and coordinated five team members responsible for resources, community management, activities, feedback, and implementation.
We met online every week to review progress and challenges, then adjusted the project in response to community feedback. The six-person team also became its own mutual-support group.
Recognizing that peer support could not replace professional care, we partnered with the university counseling center to share self-screening tools and create a pathway to professional follow-up. Screening results were not treated as clinical diagnoses.
MANAGING SCALE & BOUNDARIES
A community of nearly 500 created challenges involving group norms, content moderation, risk escalation, and emotional burden. We clarified roles, strengthened guidelines, created flexible referral pathways, and worked more closely with the counseling center so the peer team did not carry responsibilities beyond its role.
“We did not remove the anxiety created by the pandemic. We rebuilt connection and created a clearer bridge to professional care. The experience showed me that meaningful support requires more than good intentions—it requires structure, boundaries, teamwork, feedback, and action.”