THE PHOENIX PROGRAMME: SERVICES FOR ABUSED WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN

The programme focuses on providing a safe and supportive environment to abused women and their families, including those who have been sexually abused, in which they can receive counselling, support, education, and information on other support services in the community.

The services are provided through individual, couple, family and group counselling. Assessments and service plans are jointly developed to determine the most appropriate way to provide a focused service.

OBJECTIVES:
This programme for women and their families aims to:

• help women and their families deal with safety issues;
• learn about the impact of violence on self and the family unit;
• identify and deal with feelings;
• build positive self image and develop a sense of personal control in their lives; increase their problem solving and decision making abilities;
• to provide information regarding other relevant services in the community; to assist women and their families to use these services, as needed;
• to collaborate with other service providers in the community to help meet the comprehensive needs of abused women and their families;
• to provide culturally and racially sensitive services.

SERVICES:
The programme provides the following services:

• INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING: for abused women and their children.
• GROUP COUNSELLING: for abused women. See descriptions of groups below. Also check our current groups page for meeting dates and times.
• COUPLE COUNSELLING: provide couple counselling, if considered appropriate following a safety assessment.
• FAMILY COUNSELLING: Here to Help Programme

Each year, Catholic Family Services of Toronto delivers counseling services to hundreds of women who are experiencing violence. Women Helping Women will support women to end violence in their lives, will advance economic and social conditions for women who have experienced violence and will encourage women to take on leadership roles in the Catholic community.

GROUP DESCRIPTIONS

The following provides brief descriptions of the various groups provided in the Phoenix Programme.

SAFE TO SHARE
This weekly, open-ended group provides immediate service and support to women who are dealing with the impact of domestic violence. To maximise women’s access to this service, the Agency provides on-site child care and transportation costs, and there is no fee for service. This group is designed to introduce women to the impact of violence and safety issues.

UNDERSTANDING ABUSE GROUP
This is our core group for women who have experienced violence in their intimate relationships. The objectives of the group are: to enhance women’s understanding of the impact of abuse on self and family; to increase women's and their children’s safety; to help women break their isolation and gain support from others; and to provide practical help and information on community resources.

CHANGING RELATIONSHIP PATTERNS
This group is designed for women who have chosen to leave abusive relationships and are ready to move beyond the abuse. Women will have an opportunity to examine their experiences and expectations in relationships, past, present and future. They will examine changes they want to make in areas such as intimacy, closeness/distance and boundary setting.

HERE TO HELP - A GROUP FOR WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO VIOLENCE.
This is a psycho-educational group for children who have witnessed violence in their homes and a support group for their mothers. Witnessing family violence has a profound impact on children and creates special parenting challenges. There will be discussions and education regarding the impact of the violence on the children, increasing their safety and developing skills for non-violent conflict resolution. The mothers' group will provide support to deal with the related parenting issues and increasing a mother's ability to support her children.

TRANSITIONAL SUPPORT WORKER PROGRAM
Extra individual services for women in the process of leaving an abusive relationship to assist them with increasing their safety, finding housing, and advocacy to connect with relevant community services.

Check our current groups page for meeting dates and times.