Written by Jessica Ingram

 

The VSU FamilyWorks therapy clinic is now holding a Sexual Assault Survivors Support Group at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday nights.

 

The therapy clinic is operated by the Marriage and Family Therapy Program and is open every day of the week.

 

The group started on March 6, and is open to men and women 13 years old and older.

 

According to a press release from Jessica Pope, communications specialist, the program was an idea that Riece Hamilton, a graduate assistant in the Marriage and Family Therapy program came up with after volunteering at The Haven.

 

The Haven provides shelter and some services to victims of violence and sexual assault. The nonprofit organization stretches across nine counties.

 

“We want everyone to know that this service is available,” Hamilton said in the press release. “Our goal is to emphasize that these people are survivors rather than victims and that they have a story that deserves to be told.”

 

Hamilton also said that she wanted to add more opportunity for support for the survivors of sexual assault.

 

No one is turned away from the services of FamilyWorks because of inability to pay. However, the fees are determined by income and family size.

 

The clinic is supervised by the faculty members of the Marriage and Family Therapy. However, most clients are more likely to encounter first-year graduate students that take their information and their therapist will be more advanced graduate students.

 

Clients at the clinic can have one therapist, two therapists, or a team of therapists working on their sessions.

 

Clients that attend the sexual assault survivors group will be helped to deal with and overcome fear, guilt, trauma, trust, and other emotions they might feel.

 

FamilyWorks therapy clinic offers a number of different types of therapy, such as anger problems and anxiety.

 

Many of the clinic’s clients come from other towns, not only Valdosta.

 

According to the VSU press release, the clinic has had client’s come from as far as Jennings, Fla. and Cairo, Ga.

 

In a 2012 study, the Center for Disease Control, also known as the CDC, stated that almost 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men have reported being raped during a point in their lives.

 

Nineteen percent of undergraduate females have experienced attempted or completed sexual assault during their time in college, according to the CDC.

 

The CDC also states that 37.4 percent of rape victims were first raped between the ages of 18-24.

 

According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, there is an average of 207,754 sexual assault victims each year. Nearly 54 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police and 97 percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail.

 

The therapy clinic is open every day of the year with hours ranging from 9 a.m.-10 p.m. To schedule an appointment or get more information, call the FamilyWorks Clinic or visit their webpage on the VSU website.

 

The FamilyWorks clinic is located on the corner of Patterson and Gordon Street in the annex that is connected to the VSU Continuing Education Building.