Therapeutic Support Program: Hope & Healing

Providing both individual and group counseling to support the journey from victim to survivor to thriver

Dots | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy
Young girl looking at leafy plants | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy

Bringing Hope & Healing to Victims

Research has shown that sexual abuse can result in long-term detrimental effects — both physical and psychological — unless victims receive early and effective therapeutic intervention. Often, however, these resources and programs are scarce and expensive.

To fill this void, SungateKids began offering a support group for adolescent girls in 2009. Now, these services have grown to include a full range of groups and individual treatment options for child victims of abuse and their non-offending family members, including:

  • Individual treatment using evidence-based, trauma-informed therapeutic modalities
  • Therapeutic psycho-educational support groups for victims ages 4–18
  • Companion psycho-educational and therapeutic support groups for non-offending parents/caregivers
  • Therapeutic psycho-educational support groups for victims’ siblings who need additional support

Our Process and Difference

Providing Solutions and Success Through Trauma-Informed Treatment

Finding the right treatment, and the right treatment provider, can be difficult. SungateKids helps make this process easier. Our providers are trained in the following modalities, among others:

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

This integrative psychotherapy approach has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. EMDR mimics what occurs naturally during dreaming or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Therefore, EMDR can be thought of as a physiologically-based therapy that helps a person see disturbing material in a new and less distressing way. As EMDR is a mental health intervention, it should only be offered by properly trained and licensed mental health clinicians.

Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI)

CFTSI is a brief 5-8 session early intervention model for children and their caregivers. This model is based on a family strengthening approach and works to increase communication between children and their caregivers. This model works to increase support for children impacted by trauma, enforces the parent as the support person for the child to turn to, and reduces the mystery for parents about what a child is feeling after a traumatic event. The main goal of CFTSI is to help parents and children manage emotional symptoms that are a result of trauma more effectively. This intervention also works to bridge the gap between acute stress response/crisis intervention and long-term treatment.

Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

A form of cognitive behavioral therapy, TF-CBT focuses on the emotional and mental health needs of those who are victims of trauma, abuse or grief — especially children and adolescents. In clinical trials, TF-CBT has repeatedly shown itself to be an effective treatment for children and non-offending family members or caregivers to help recover from the trauma of sexual abuse and is the preferred therapeutic modality recommended by the National Children’s Alliance, SungateKids’ accrediting body.

Dots | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy
Pebbles in water | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy

Healing Together Through Individual and Group Therapy

Smaller Dots | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy
Girl in striped shirt, talking with another person | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy

The Therapeutic Support Program providers work with victims in an individual setting by providing an open, supportive, and confidential environment to address issues and guide clients as they work towards change.

Individual counseling can help to:

  • Gradually weaken the negative emotions associated with a traumatic event
  • Reclaim a sense of personal power after experiencing trauma, including sexual assault
  • Develop new perspectives and life skills
  • Deal with distorted and maladaptive thought patterns and beliefs that can leave victims feeling ‘stuck’
  • Improve the quality of relationships by identifying and enhancing personal strengths
Smaller Dots | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy
Eucalyptus plant in a jar | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy

Group therapy helps our clients create a community of support. Typically, groups consist of 5–15 people and 1–2 therapists. Participants may be in different stages of the healing process, which helps members connect with people further down the road to recovery and instills hope for the future.

Group therapy can help participants to:

  • Understand that they are not alone in facing issues of sexual assault and trauma in their family
  • Provide psychoeducation about abuse and trauma
  • Help strengthen boundaries and assess healthy versus unhealthy relationship patterns
  • Have a safe-haven in which to practice behaviors or actions with safety, security and support of the group
Smaller Dots | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy
Water droplets on a leaf | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy

Our therapists are trained in administering trauma assessments. Trauma assessments are tools to help our therapists understand and assess what feelings a child may be having on the inside and what their parents or caregivers are observing on the outside:

Assessment tools used include, but are not limited to:

  • The Harborview
  • Trauma Symptoms Checklist for Children- TSCC
  • Trauma Symptoms Checklist for Young Children- TSCYC
  • Childhood Sexual Behavior Inventory- CSBI

These assessment tools are NOT used to determine whether or not abuse occurred, nor are they used to diagnose a child.

Learn More About SungateKids’ Therapeutic Support Program

SungateKids groups can help you and your child take that first step toward healing and recovering, surviving and thriving.

Sessions will run on Tuesdays from 5:00-7:30pm . If you’re interested in a future group contact Hannah.Fisher-Tachouet@SungateKids.org

October 22nd – December 17th in 2024

February 4th – April 8th in 2025

September 9th – November 4th in 2025

Get in touch
Dots | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy
Group of kids, huddled together, smiling | SungateKids | Child Abuse Awareness, Support & Advocacy