Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

[Rachel DiBella <>]

Hi Anne, 

At Boston College, I work closely with our colleagues in Counseling Services to provide appropriate referrals to clinicians who have significant experience working with survivors of interpersonal trauma (I currently serve as the university's sexual assault response specialist). Counselors will provide services according to students' presenting needs on a case by case basis. 

Episodic, short-term care is most common, from my understanding, though certainly, if students benefit significantly from the relationship, there is the possibility of continuing. In some cases, where students might benefit from long-term psychotherapy, the counselor and student would discuss making a referral outside of the university. All of these services are provided alongside students' getting adjunctive emotional support from my position (I am a clinical social worker with a specialization in trauma as well), where we tend to focus on developing concrete coping skills, support networks and self-care strategies. Our counseling center does continue to see students over the summer.

We also collaborate with Counseling Services to provide closed support groups to students after an informal screening process that seeks to ensure students have adequate coping skills and support systems in place to begin processing their experiences. We hope to assess two sections of these groups this year and also intend to hold a new group for graduate students. We are looking forward to being able to garner insight from a formal assessment process to see what appears to be most supportive of students in terms of psychoeducation, process and transition in stages of trauma recovery.

I hope this is helpful! If you're looking for a resource that supports the relationship between community and healing from trauma, I very much recommend Judy Herman's Trauma Recovery Group: A Guide for Practitioners, though I realize you might already know it. These groups have been some of the most useful resources, according to students, that we've been able to offer on our campus, and so I'm happy to continue to chat offline about how we've developed these.

All the best, 

Rachel

Rachel DiBella, LCSW, MSW

Assistant Director

Boston College Women's Center

McElroy Commons 118 

617-552-2735  |  

On Thu, May 28, 2015 at 11:38 AM, Anne Huhman <> wrote:

Hello colleagues,

I have a few questions about the types of counseling services your institution offers survivors.  I would greatly appreciate whatever information you are able to provide.  It will really help us think critically about effective counseling models for survivors of sexual violence.

 

1. What services does the counseling center at your University provide for sexual assault & intimate partner violence survivors? Does the center provide short or long-term therapy?

2. Does your counseling center conduct a support group for survivors of trauma?  If so, is it an open or closed group?  Do you have any literature that cites this as a best practice?

3. Does your counseling center see students in the summer if they are not enrolled in classes?

Thanks very much,

Anne

--

Anne Huhman, MSW

Program Manager for Education and Prevention

University of Michigan Student Life

Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center

(734) 764-7771

www.sapac.umich.edu

 

Please consider donating to SAPAC.  No amount is too small.  https://www.kintera.org/site/c.kwKTJdNVJrF/b.4340155/k.872E/Give_Online/apps/s/custom.asp?msource=ucCode:dsa-sapac