Healing Circle

Service Description

This psychotherapy group is a safe space for women to meet together to process their trauma in a supportive environment. Research shows that having gender specific psychotherapy groups are a key variable in successful outcomes of Mental health issues. Having a trauma informed approach to group work seems to present with the best outcomes. Being able to recognize how trauma affects women’s psychological development, while avoiding triggers, helping women to cope with their trauma reactions and ensuring counsellors and staff facilitate this process (Messina et al., 2010) is key in creating the safe space for women to begin healing. Women-only groups provide women with more freedom to talk about difficult topics they may not feel comfortable talking about in the presence of men. Topics such as abuse and relationship issues, which in most cases are perpetrated by intimate partners or male acquaintances that are close to women and helps women to be able to focus on themselves rather than on the men in the group. Women who have experienced traumatic events may be more vulnerable and thus may have difficulties in addressing their traumas or expressing emotions surrounding them. It is here that the therapeutic factor of universality is much needed in allowing women to see that they are not alone, while at the same time not retraumatizing them but creating a safe therapeutic environment for women to thrive.