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Volume 4, Issue 6 May/June 2013
The Healing Voice
Group Services Newsletter
Message from the Group Services Coordinator
The end of our grant year is quickly approaching! Thus far, the Group Services Program has offered 139 group sessions. Without the help of our volunteers this would have been challenging. The Group Services Program is preparing to offer another Volunteer Group Facilitator Training in May. This particular training will be the largest training held in the last 2 years. Many thanks to Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital for their donation of space for this training! Other exciting news is that we have begun offering Art and Yoga Therapies to our clients. Animal-Assisted Therapy will resume in the new grant year. healing process. Please keep STSM in mind when considering opportunities to volunteer. STSM has availability for not only volunteer group facilitators but also volunteer advocates, speakers bureau advocates, and office volunteers. STSM also has numerous events taking place in the coming weeks and months. You can find out more by checking out the calendar events at www.stsm.org/calendar. These alternative healing
STAFF
Genevieve N. Waller, Esq. Executive Director Tammy Szymanski Office Manager Sherry Lewis, MA, LPC ,CAC II Director of Therapy and Outreach Melanie Snipes, LMSW Director of Crisis Services Kayce Singletary, MPH, MSW Community Education Director Elizabeth Wolfe Development Coordinator Sarah Nevarez, MSW, MPH Volunteer Services Coordinator Zoe McDowell Sexual Assault Services Coordinator Amy Meldau, LMSW Advocate Counselor Vacant Bilingual Victim Advocate Kyra Hufford, LPC-I Group Services Coordinator Alexis Stratton, MFA Prevention Education Coordinator Megan Monts Abuse in Later Life Coordinator Sarah Collins Community Advocate and Prevention Specialist
modalities allow for clients to gain more skills to benefit their
Reminders:
All group forms are due by the first business day of every month, and group updates are due every Friday by 9 am to the Group Services Coordinator. These are very important for our federal grant! Contact the Group Services Coordinator for any issues with group locations, copies of paperwork, and/or scheduling conflicts. Contact the Director of Therapy and Outreach regarding any and all clinical issues (clients, supervision, etc.)
STSM supports survivors in recovery from the trauma associated with sexual assault and abuse and educates the community to identify and prevent sexual violence.
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Facilitator Spotlight: S. Christian Ray
Christian began volunteering with STSM in October of 2012. She is currently employed with the SC Department of Education (SCDE) as a Program Assistant for the Office of School Transformation. She is also a full-time student at Walden University, pursuing a M.S. in Mental Health Counseling. Christian hopes to use her degree to work with the at-risk youth. The insight gained from working to improve the low-performing schools in the State directed her attention to the need to address stress that may be contributing to the low performance in schools (i.e. family and home dynamics, substance abuse, peer pressure, etc.). Christian has already developed an intervention strategy that involves key stakeholders, parents, and community members who will be instrumental in facilitating positive change with the youth so that they can better concentrate on scholastic goals (or develop them). She hopes to implement this in the near future. Christian also volunteered on a community board that acted as an arbitration committee for DJJ cases. Although working with this population is her passion, Christian's goal is to facilitate change and advocate for people of all cultures, backgrounds, ages, and educational levels. Her ultimate goal is to research more strategies that will contribute to the youth's plight and eventually obtain a Ph.D. Christian enjoys reading and writing. She hopes to write a book one day to motivate young women to achieve their goals. Most of Christian's time is spent with her two-year-old son, other family and friends, and church members. Christian is grateful for the time she has to spend to volunteer with STSM. She has learned a great deal about herself and is grateful to have the experience to hone her professional skills in every aspect of the field. She hopes to continue to thrive within this organization and help as much as she can!
Potential Facilitators
Volunteer Group Facilitators provide psycho educational and support group services to survivors of sexual assault and their families. Groups are designed to serve a variety of populations including female and male survivors, adolescents, and their families. Responsibilities:
       
Facilitate psycho educational and support groups using assigned curriculum Provide appropriate feedback to group members Work effectively with a co facilitator Complete required documentation Attend monthly supervision meetings Students enrolled in a graduate program in counselor education, social work, or human services Masters level social workers, psychologists, and counselors Must complete STSM training and have some knowledge of sexual assault and abuse
Qualifications:
Contact Group Services Coordinator Kyra Hufford at 803-790-8208
STSM supports survivors in recovery from the trauma associated with sexual assault and abuse and educates the community to identify and prevent sexual violence.
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Creating Change in the LGBTQ Community
By Amy Meldau, Advocate Counselor and Alexis Stratton, Prevention Education Coordinator
Experiencing sexual violence regardless of your gender or sexual orientation is a tragedy. However, our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community members are more likely to be victims of this injustice. In January, I had the privilege of attending the national Creating Change conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Creating Change is the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) outreach and advocacy conference in the country, with over 3,000 professionals attending from across the country. There is one LGBT community center here in Columbia: the Harriet Hancock LGBTQ Center. I represent STSM as a member of the Harriet Hancock Center’s LGBTQ Inter-Personal Violence (IPV) Prevention Task Force, which has representatives from throughout South Carolina, including Richland County and USC Law Enforcement, Sexual Assault Nurses, the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (SCCADVASA) , Sistercare, the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), and the USC Immunology Center. These groups all come together to discuss and implement interventions to better serve LGBTQ community members who are victims of violence and assault, especially violence perpetrated by their intimate partners. I was chosen to present at this national conference on IPV in the LGBTQ community and the significance of having a community task force to address this issue, along with two others from the task force (Tricia Phaup, Lead Social Worker from the USC Immunology Center, and Alex Karydi, Psychologist from the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice). We also collaborated with Kirsten Keith, a grad student from Portland State University who serves in their Queer Resource Center. Together, we presented a 90minute workshop titled, “Interpersonal Violence (IPV) Programs for LGBTQ-H Communities: Increasing Services in the Pacific Northwest & Stretching the Dollar to Build in the South.” I presented on the prevalence and forms of sexual violence that are specific to the LGBTQ-H community. This population continues to be underserved on national and regional levels. It is STSM’s goal to spread awareness of the services that we provide to survivors of sexual violence. A recently released report by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) revealed the following key statistics:
Did You Know:
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Transgender individuals are twice as likely to experience sexual violence in their lifetimes when compared to nontransgender individuals?
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44% of lesbians and 61% of bisexual women experience rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetimes, compared to 35% of heterosexual women?
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40% of gay men and about 50% of bisexual men have experienced sexual violence other than rape in their lifetimes, compared to 20.8% of heterosexual men?
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About 1 in 8 lesbians (13.1%), almost half of bisexual women (46.1%), and 1 out of 6 heterosexual women (17.4%) have been raped in their lifetimes. This adds up to an estimated 214,000 lesbians, 1.5 million bisexual women, and 19 million heterosexual women. About half of bisexual women (48.2%) and over a quarter of heterosexual women (28.3%) were first raped between the ages of 11 and 17. Almost half of bisexual men (47.4%), 4 out of 10 gay men (40.2%), and 1 out of 5 heterosexual men (20.8%) have experienced some form of sexual violence other than rape in their lifetimes. This adds up to almost 1.1 million gay men, 903,000 bisexual men, and 21.6 million heterosexual men. (NSVRC, 2011)
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While the data from this report do not necessarily show that violence occurs more often in same-sex or opposite-sex couples, it does indicate a prevalence of lifetime victimization of IPV and sexual violence among the LGBTQ community. Unfortunately, for many different reasons that both our IPV Task Force and STSM are working to address, these victims of sexual trauma are not seeking services in an amount that is representative of this STSM realizes the importance of providing high quality services to survivors, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, and STSM works hard to provide confidential services that are sensitive and supportive of survivors from the LGBTQ community. And we will also continue to seek to educate the LGBTQ community about sexual and intimate partner violence as we work to prevent violence—a step that CDC Director Dr. Tom Friedan says is “equally critical” in addressing the needs of the LGBTQ population. (NSVRC, 2011)
STSM supports survivors in recovery from the trauma associated with sexual assault and abuse and educates the community to identify and prevent sexual violence.
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Upcoming Events
May 15: Webinar: “Threat Assessment Tool” May 17-19: Volunteer Group Facilitator Training 9 am—5 pm May 17: Webinar: “Neurobiology of Sexual Assault: Impact of Trauma” May 21: Webinar: “How to De-escalate Hostile Behaviors” May 23: Webinar: “Disability and Transgender Survivors” June 1-6: Volunteer Advocate Training June 5: Webinar: “Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships June 10: Group Supervision 6-7:30 pm June 20: Webinar: “Shifting Boundaries: Lessons Learned” June 21: Webinar: “Community Collaborations to Respond to Sexual Assault” **Contact Kyra if you are interested in attending any webinars or for a list of recorded webinars**
Don’t Forget!
You’re invited to join STSM staff for lunch on the 3rd Wednesday of every month!!
Current Groups
     Morris Village Psycho-ed Group Sistercare Psycho-ed Group Killingsworth Psycho-ed Group Art Therapy Yoga Therapy        
Upcoming Groups
Women’s Shelter Psycho-ed Group Male Support Group — TREM Secondary Survivor Support Group LRADAC Women’s Support — TREM Women’s Support Group — TREM Teen Support Group — TREM Parents/Caregivers Support Group Animal-Assisted Therapy
Connect with us 3710 Landmark Drive Suite 301 Columbia, SC 29204 (803) 790-8208 www.stsm.org
STSM supports survivors in recovery from the trauma associated with sexual assault and abuse and educates the community to identify and prevent sexual violence.
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