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Peer counseling, advocacy, and education are
central to SAGE’s mission and services. A majority of
our staff include former clients of SAGE, or are survivors
of violence, exploitation, or addiction.
Some of the strengths peer educators and counselors can bring
to this work include:
- an empathetic awareness of what it's like
to "come back to life" after having to survive
by dissociating, abusing alcohol and/or drugs, or depending
on destructive relationships;
- developed intuition and understanding of
both the strengths and the extremes of pain, fear, and loneliness
that many CSE survivors experience;
- a better capacity to establish trust with
people who have been misunderstood or mistreated by professionals
and law enforcement;
- mentoring and guidance grounded in having
gone through processes of trauma and addiction recovery;
- the emotional benefits that come with healing—a
combination of productive and energizing anger, love, social
consciousness, and deep motivation to support people who
have been abused or marginalized.
At SAGE, peer education and counseling complement a variety
of health, vocational and advocacy resources. SAGE's peer counselors
work closely with formally trained clinicians and professionals
to ensure an ongoing dialogue about treatment plans and approaches,
and planned coordination of services and resources.
For staff with histories of violence and addiction, problems
of “compassion fatigue” or empathic burnout, vicarious
trauma, and the triggers involved in connecting with other
survivors of violence and exploitation can all be particular
challenges. Peer staff can often connect and sometimes establish
deep trust with clients; it is particularly crucial that staff
be part of a structure which prevents that trust from being
damaged or betrayed, due to staff relapse, burnout, or activated
trauma.
We encourage anyone considering creating a peer education
or counseling program intended to support survivors of sexual
exploitation, violence, or addiction to plan carefully to
provide staff with comprehensive assistance in ongoing self-care
and stress management.
For more information about SAGE programs and services, use
the links above, or contact us at SAGE. |
