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If you have been
sexually assaulted . . . Get to a Safe Place! DON’T: -Bathe You could be washing away evidence. DO: Call the Rape Care Hotline at Get medical attention. We’re Here to Help!
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Frequently Asked Questions
What kinds of problems and issues do clients bring to the agency for help?
The clinical staff provides services to individuals and families struggling with a wide array of personal and family issues, including marital conflict, domestic violence, depression, loss, loneliness, substance abuse, eating disorders, financial hardship, job stress and others. Therapists are all thoroughly trained and receive continuous intensive supervision and professional development. In addition, many clinicians have received specialized training both on-site and in training programs around the world that have further prepared them to serve clients who face particular issues or have particular needs.
How does the counseling program work?
The first call must come from the individual seeking services and should signal the individual’s commitment to healing themselves. We believe that this healing will take place primarily within the intimate emotional relationships in that person’s life. For this reason, our clinical staff often ask clients to bring significant others—spouses, partners, children, siblings, parents, or others—with them when they make an appointment. During therapy, we encourage clients to focus on their interpersonal relationships creatively, so they can experience themselves and others in a new way, and so that healing can take place.
How does the agency know that its counseling program is effective?
Our counseling professionals strive to make an impact on the lives of our clients. Our objectives are to help families, couples and individuals to address presenting problems, to develop the tools and the capacity for healing, and to strengthen their emotional lives and relationships. Our staff works with clients for as long as necessary to ensure that these objectives are realized. In some cases, clients come for a few sessions; in other cases clients undergo a lengthy therapeutic process. Clients report a high level of satisfaction and appreciation for the guidance and assistance they receive. Many of our clients come to the agency based on the recommendation of former clients. Family Service League receives countless referrals from medical professionals, social service agencies and legal institutions. Clinicians report a high rate of success among those clients who complete treatment.
What kind of training do the members of the counseling staff receive?
All of our professional clinicians have terminal degrees in their fields. A large number of staff also have substantial post-graduate training experience from internationally renowned centers such as the Ackerman Institute, the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center and the Minuchin Center for the Family. Staff members attend conferences, workshops and institutes around the world, often at their own expense.
Is there really a need for free and low cost services in our community?
Despite the fact that Family Service League does not advertise for the family counseling program or the Family Day Nursery School, our counseling staff remains booked with appointments 52 weeks a year and often has a waiting list. In particular, the agency has seen a marked rise in the number of clients over age 70 and in the number of clients seeking services in Spanish. Our nursery school has a perpetual waiting list for new enrollment. We have also seen a dramatic increase in the number of callers to the rape care hotline and in the number of survivors of sexual violence requesting assistance, advocacy and accompaniment. The strong and growing demand for services in the absence of any public relations or advertising campaign is a clear indication of an enormous need within our service area.
Is sexual violence a problem in our area?
Unfortunately, yes. In Essex County, there are an estimated 1000 cases of rape each year. Sexual violence crosses geographic, social, ethnic,cultural, age and gender lines and is widely considered the most under-reported crime.