Individual Counselling Program

The counselling services provided by Avalon Sexual Assault Centre are available to women, 16 and older, who have experienced sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse or sexual harassment. We also provide individual counselling support sessions to the non-offending parents of children who have disclosed sexual abuse, as well as, information sessions to supportive partners of women accessing our services.

We offer a "stepping-stone" approach in our individual counselling services, which paces the healing steps and protects from feeling overwhelmed or overexposed. Within our "stepping-stone" approach, we follow a person-centered model in recognition that each woman's needs and paths are unique. We also work collaboratively with clients and honor the wisdom, perspectives, values and choices of each woman.

Our specialized sexual abuse/assault counselling supports women in addressing current life impacts stemming from sexual assault/abuse trauma in such areas as safety, trust, control, self-identity, intimacy and sexuality. We also support women in understanding and linking together the broader impacts and challenges related to societal sexism and other forms of oppression.

Structure of Individual Counselling Program:

All counselling services are self-referral and begin with a telephone request. An initial consultation session provides support while mutually exploring the fit of our specialized counselling for each individual's most important current needs. These consultation sessions are offered to each person within two to four weeks following the initial call. Those who identify a serious present life safety concern including: a harmful addictive pattern, a mental health difficulty or ongoing violence by a partner, continue to be referred to appropriate specialized services in our community and may re-access our services at a time of greater safety. Women who have experienced recent sexual assault are prioritized for counselling sessions.

We offer short-term foundational safety building counselling sessions (from 1-10) to women and non-offending parents who are currently experiencing a heightened time of crisis following a recent sexual assault or discovering that their child has been sexually abused. These quicker to access short-term sessions are also offered to women who are currently experiencing overwhelming flashbacks related to past sexualized abuse/assault.

We also offer relational healing-focused counselling sessions (from 1-20) to support women who have established sufficient emotional safety to name, acknowledge and have witnessed the many impacts and losses surrounding past childhood sexual abuse and/or adult sexual assault experiences. A focus is placed on countering the disempowering effects of sexualized violence and societal sexism to support reclaiming and healing. This relational trauma healing focus is supported through creating much safety within the counselling approach

The waiting periods for counselling sessions varies according to demand and the length of current wait lists. Due to our wait lists, we are able to offer counselling support over time-limited frameworks. However, women are able to re-access further support of up to 10 additional trauma healing-focused sessions following a six-month or longer break. Many women reconnect in seeking these sessions to expand upon and deepen their processes of healing. Calls and inquiries regarding individual counselling services can be made to our business office number of 422-4240.