http://gnadenfreifound.wixsite.com/bb-foundation
Therapy for Traumatised Women and Children
Our project is to fund therapy for women and children recovering from domestic violence, particularly those suffering with PTSD. We will subsidise EMDR Therapy and Expressive therapy sessions for traumatised women and children at the at Gnadenfrei Counselling and Psychology Centre. The Centre offers reduced fees and frequently offer clients free sessions to continue recovery. However, the 10 Medicare sessions offered annually to clients isn’t generally enough to support full recovery. Research indicates the average person requires between 15-20 sessions to recover from Depression and Anxiety alone. Expressive therapies (sandplay, art, play therapies) help access underlying emotions and express concepts that are difficult to verbalise, but aren’t covered by Medicare except for children. Gnadenfrei utilises EMDR therapy for the treatment of PTSD, which is recognised as having the highest level of research evidence for the treatment of PTSD by the Australian Psychological Society (EBPI Review 2010). Recovery outcomes often occur quicker than using cognitive therapies, and changes are generally permanent. We always advocate for clients to utilise their full amount of Medicare sessions when seeking therapy. However, progress is often halted or interrupted when these funds expire, and clients can walk away, half-healed and vulnerable without the vital additional support they need in the crucial recovery period after experiencing domestic violence. Expressive therapies are also proven to have heightened healing effects, particularly with children and adults who have trouble verbalising their pain. We will subsidise expressive therapy sessions for traumatised women and offer additional sessions to children.