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therapy

client is feeling in ways that make sense to
her, and about the expectations that are
being reached. This includes naming
disappointment and injustice, and having
those feelings recognised and validated
– and perhaps experiencing for the first
time that they are believed.
The therapeutic space gives the client
the opportunity to build a trusting,
meaningful relationship, where they are
in the presence of an unerring ally. Here,
the unspeakable truth about how they are
feeling, especially in the face of constant
injustice, can be named with no fear of
judgement or spiteful retribution.

Adding therapy to advocacy
The recent opportunities for Respond
advocacy clients to receive therapy as a
parallel service with advocacy have been
positively received and well used.
The therapeutic space gives the client
the opportunity to process her feelings
and have them validated and, in so doing,
she can clear the processing space that
she needs for the advocacy work.
Having a therapeutic space to process
feelings stirred up by the legal processes Therapy at Respond allows people to express their deepest fears without being judged
she might be involved in or is considering
means the client can express her deepest Collaborative work between advocacy needed, The clients felt more “held” and
fears or process her understanding, and counselling/therapy services is not a better contained, as they had access to
knowing she will not be judged. new concept. Its success has been seen support via a one-stop shop.
In addition, therapy has invariably given before but perhaps not as frequently as As services were online, the reach
clients the space and time to think about people might imagine. grew, so clients from across the country
previous traumas in their life, and to When we were forced into lockdown could access services that have historically
somehow find a way of being able to and were required to think creatively to been delivered in London and, more
understand them and give them their ensure services could be delivered, recently, Birmingham.
rightful space. suddenly everything was to play for, and The therapy spaces gave people the
To be seen, heard and believed is this proved to be significant for autistic opportunity to talk about how their past
something these clients have rarely clients and those with learning disabilities. and unprocessed traumas were coming
experienced. To be able to process some back to the foreground of their lives. For
feelings and situations that could feel some, the issues lay with the pressure of
overwhelming at times has supported Due to the extraordinary being in confined spaces with violent
their journey through the judicial situation, there was now a partners or family members who were
system’s processes. unable to understand or manage the
As perpetrators and abusers in these smooth transition with a difficulties of lockdown themselves.
cases are seldom brought to justice, it is pathway that gave fair access It is said that “necessity is the mother of
not unusual for the victims to carry the invention” – and, because of the needs
shame of a crime that is not their own to individual or group therapy that were highlighted by the pandemic, it
but is left with them as a result of this became evident that the commissioning
broken system. of joined-up services must hold the needs
By facing this shame in therapy, the client Reaching more people of the client at their very heart.
can recognise her own worth by putting Due to the extraordinary situation and the Perhaps the big message is that
down those feelings that she is carrying funding Respond was able to access therapeutically held services (which
for others and move with greater self- because of Covid-19, there was now a consider motivations, responses and other
worth and own her identity as a survivor. smooth transition, with an efficient internal traumas that may affect a person and
Sounds easy, no? It’s not. And it referral pathway that gave fair access to their networks) are needed to support the
might be worth trying to imagine what short-term individual or group therapy. process of ensuring justice is available to
this might be like if the life you have The funding was offered in response to everyone, not just the privileged few. n
experienced thus far has reinforced the call to support people’s mental health ● https://respond.org.uk
that you are of no value, and certainly and wellbeing as difficulties were being
are not worth having the resources exacerbated by lockdown. Lynne Tooze is the independent sexual
spent on you to try to get the justice you It had been clear for a long time that violence adviser and Sonia Antoniazzi is a
rightly deserve. the need for this joined-up provision was senior therapist at Respond

www.cl-initiatives.co.uk Community Living Vol 35 No 2 | Winter 2022 21