Sexual Assault Intervention for Living (S.A.I.L.) Therapy Program
S.A.I.L. is a free service which is funded by the North-East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), and through community donations.
S.A.I.L. provides therapy services in the District of Muskoka to women who: are survivors of sexual assault; have experienced childhood sexual abuse; and/or, have been subjected to sexual harassment. Staff members work toward integrating this program with those of other community agencies, in order to enhance the services which are offered to women.
Services include individual, partner, and/or group therapy. Therapy functions to support women, and assist them to self define through a feminist therapy model (and by utilizing a variety of approaches), while working toward resolution of the impact of sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, and/or sexual harassment.
Individual Therapy:
This can can be brief or long term. Counselling takes place in Bracebridge on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. On Tuesdays, counselling is available in Huntsville. Please call for the relevant location. Appointments can be booked to accommodate a woman's needs.
Group Therapy:
The group therapy program is held every Wednesday night at the Women’s Resource Centre in Bracebridge (from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.). The program consists of a dinner and a discussion, for women survivors of sexual assault/abuse.
For more information, click here.
What makes feminist therapy different?
• acknowledgement of a woman’s lived experience as knowledge and expertise
• acknowledgement of the systems of power in a woman’s life, and how these may impact her perception of herself and her choices in life
• acknowledgement that the sexism experienced by women may be further exacerbated by racism, "sizism", classism, ageism, "ableism", homophobia, and other forms of discrimination and oppression (may impact both client and therapist)
• recognition that systems of authority and power will often work against women as part of systemic oppression
• the principle that women must be empowered to recognize and make their own choices and decisions
• the practice of a competence-based approach, which seeks to uncover and use woman’s strengths and resources to resolve problems
• the belief that trust must be earned and maintained, not granted through "expertise"
• the view that intuition can be used as part of the exploration with a woman client
• the practice that professional boundaries must be balanced with some space in a therapeutic relationship
• the realization that the therapist is a person, with her own biases, experience, and knowledge
• the belief that mistakes are "okay", and can be acknowledged
What kinds of therapy approaches are used?
Eclectic approaches which fit each woman and her situation are best, and may include:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy:
- uncovering and changing patterns of thinking (e.g., through self talk)
Dialectic Behavioural Therapy:
- teaching and practicing emotional regulation, interpersonal skills, distress tolerance, and mindfulness (i.e., thought without judgement)
Brief Strategic Therapy:
- focusing on a specific area for change, and developing behavioural interventions to reach the target, by using the system of relationships available to the client
Sexual Assault Therapy:
- individual or group interventions aimed at mediating specific impacts, such as shame or guilt (e.g., through talk, journalling, body work, art, activism, music)
Family or Couple Work:
-emphasizing connection, support, awareness, power, shared experience, mediation of differences, relationships, and communication
Trauma Therapy:
- involves awareness of attachment styles in primary relationships; and, using this knowledge for reintegrating traumatic memories into 'narrative memory’ by managing post-trauma symptoms (e.g., hyperarousal, dissociation, flashbacks)
- also involves processing traumatic memories
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