Counselling

We provide free and confidential trauma informed counselling supports in the Barwon and Wimmera regions to people who have experienced sexual and/or family violence, and affected family members and friends. Our services include:

• Up to 12 sessions of counselling and therapeutic interventions for all people, across all ages who have experienced sexual violence.
• Up to 12 sessions of counselling supports for women, non-binary folk, and children and who have experienced family violence
• Support for family members, carers and friends of people impacted by sexual and/or family violence.
• Sexual assault crisis response for people who have been sexually assaulted in the past two weeks, or children who have disclosed past sexual assault for the first time
• Assessment and therapeutic supports for children and young people who have engaged in harmful sexual behaviours and their families/ carers
• Therapeutic group programs
• Secondary consultation and training to professionals

During an initial intake appointment we will work with you to understand your current needs and goals, and identify the supports that might best suit you and/or your family.

We offer a range of counselling services and programs including: intake response, brief intervention, time limited counselling, group programs, or secondary consultation.  We can also assist you with access to other services and supports, based on your particular needs and goals.

To find out more about counselling services and programs please contact our intake team on 52224318 or reception@safcentre.org.au

FAQ

• How do I access Counselling support?

  You are welcome to contact The SAFV Centre Intake Team on 5222 4318.  During an initial intake appointment, we will work with you to understand your current needs and goals, and identify the supports that might best suit you and/or your family.

  We offer a range of counselling services and programs including: intake response, brief intervention, , group programs, or secondary consultation. We can also assist you with access to other services and supports, based on your particular needs and goals.

• Is there any waiting times

  Yes, due to demand there are some waiting times for counselling support.  However, at your intake appointment you will be advised of what the estimated wait time is to be allocated a counsellor advocate.

  Or you may choose to engage in brief intervention.  In this instance we can offer you up to 3 sessions. These will generally be available to you within the first few weeks of making contact with our service.

  There are some instances (such as a recent sexual assault) where there will be no waiting time.  The intake team will speak to you.

• What will counselling look like?

  The first few sessions will be an assessment together to understand your hopes and goals for counselling, and decide on the counselling approach.

  Appointments can be onsite (in person), by phone or online (telehealth). You can discuss your preference with your counsellor. *Please note these options may change due to unforeseen circumstances, your counsellor will discuss if required.

  Each counselling session generally runs for 50mins. If you are late for an appointment, the session may run shorter than that time.

• How long will l see a counsellor for?

  Our counselling supports  involve regular reviews between you and your counsellor. Your goals may be met in a few sessions, or you may engage in up to 12 sessions of counselling.

• What happens if l think l have experienced sexual violence but l can’t quite remember?

  We understand that it can be difficult to remember everything clearly after an experience of sexual assault. We want to assure you that our approach does not include techniques to uncover or force memory recall. Instead, we prioritise providing support that aligns with your current understanding of the experience, whether you have a clear recollection or only fragments of it. For both legal and ethical reasons, we can’t make assumptions about an assault based solely on feelings or intuition.

  If your memories of the sexual assault are unclear or incomplete, that’s okay. We can still offer general support to help you explore and understand your experience in a safe, non-judgmental space.