GMI Mentoring FAQ
- What is the GMI Mentoring?
The Mentor Support Programme is part of the GMI Counselling and Mentoring service that aims to help people who place themselves at risk of HIV infection. More specifically, it is for those who do so despite having knowledge of safe sexual behaviour and an expressed desire to put it into practice. In this way, the programme is an HIV prevention strategy that looks at the background reasons that may be preventing someone from successfully keeping himself safe from infection. Thus, if you find that you continually place yourself at risk despite not wanting to, then GMI Mentoring may help you discover why this is and give you some strategies to help bring your behaviour in line with your desire to play safe. It is not counselling.
- How does it work?
The Mentoring Programme pairs gay and bisexual men who want to stop placing themselves at risk of HIV infection with trained volunteer mentors who will help them work through either a 9 modules long term programme or a 4 module short term programme which looks at the emotional side of safe sex. Which programme you embark on will depend on your situation, free time and level of need and will be discussed thoroughly at the assessment stage. The mentors are gay and bisexual men just like you who are committed to safe sex and have been trained to help the people they are mentoring get the most out of the programme. Most importantly, they are not health care professionals, but people on your level and living lives like yours who want to give something back to their community by helping to prevent HIV infection.
- How will I know if I'm right for the programme?
Basically, if you find that you have trouble developing a set of safer sex rules that you can stick to and would like to change that, this programme is for you. The fact that it brings you into contact with people just like you and not health care professionals means that the experience should be easy and enjoyable and possibly lead to real friendships. A mentoring session is not a counselling session. You will not be placed under a microscope, but will instead have a chance to talk about many of the things that may be preventing you from developing a safe sex regime in a friendly, informal and non-judgmental setting.
- What would be required of me?
Whether on the full long term 5 month programme or the short term 2 month programme, each module takes place fortnightly and averages 2½ hours in length. These take place wherever you and your mentor decide works for the both of you, and as long as you stick roughly to the fortnightly template, the rest is up to the both of you. After each mentoring session, you will have to fill out a Module Monitoring Sheet and mail (via Freepost) or bring hand it into the GMI Mentoring Supervisor at one of our offices so that he can assess both the progress of your journey through the programme and the effectiveness of the modules themselves. Apart from this, all that is expected of you is an honest desire to engage in the programme and, barring unforeseen circumstances, to stick with it through to completion.
- What are the modules like on the full long term programme?
The modules are interactive and designed to get both you and your mentor talking about not only your lives as gay or bisexual men, but as people in general. The idea is not to find a problem and fix it, but rather to get you to think about yourself and your sexuality in ways that you might not have done before in the hope that this might lead you to some of your own discoveries. Again, because the mentors are not professionals, it would be irresponsible to get them to act as counselors. They won't be trying to make discoveries for you, but will hopefully help you make your own.
- What are the modules like on the short term programme?
On the short term programme, the style of each of the 4 modules remains the same in terms of their interactive nature, the difference is in the content. This option includes the same topics as described above but are structured in a more condensed way and combine several of the topics into one session. The short term programme should not be seen as an 'easy quick fix option', this route is perhaps more emotionally challenging than the full long term programme. (Short term mentoring will not benefit everyone and it is always recommended to enter into the full programme if possible).
- The modules themselves run as follows:
- Safe Sexual Behaviour: A short course in the physical side of safe sex, necessary before moving on to its more emotional aspects.
- History Sharing: A way for you and the person you are mentoring to establish a web of personal references to help you get to know and respond easily to each other throughout the programme.
- Self-Esteem: The real beginning of the emotional exploration. Here you look at how the way we see both ourselves and the world we live in can be changed through our attitudes towards it.
- Drug and Alcohol Use: Looking at whether the use of substances affects our view of the world and our sexual behaviour.
- Being Gay: Looking at what it means to be gay in today's society and sorting through stereotypes (our own and other people's).
- Partnerships: Similar to Being Gay but this time looking exclusively at the sexual side of our sexuality, in terms of love, one-night stands and everything in between.
- Facing the Issue: How good is the person you are mentoring at bringing up the issue of safety in sexual encounters and relationships?
- Goal Building: Getting the person you are mentoring to look at how he faces challenges in general and with respect to staying HIV negative and how he reacts to setbacks along the way.
- Social Role and Responsibility/Imagining the Worst: A two-part module that looks firstly at one's responsibility to others in keeping oneself safe, and secondly at what life as an HIV positive man is like.
- What if this is too much of a commitment right now or I'm not quite sure it's right for me?
If you feel unsure about entering into the programme due to time constraints and/or are anxious it may not be for you, it may still be worth coming in for an informal chat with our programme supervisor - Rob. You will be under no obligation to sign up and after all, if you've come this far we may be able to help with whatever is on your mind!
- I'm interested! What do I do?
If you have already spoken to one of our support workers and completed the paperwork to join the programme then just wait to be contacted within the next few days. Otherwise contact Rob Wardle, GMI Mentoring Supervisor, to arrange an informal chat and to begin the process of joining the programme. We look forward to having you on board!
You can also contact us for more information and an informal chat by:
