We are delighted to now feature alongside BCP council's BCP Together project which is all about putting the right support at your finger tips for when you need it most.
In an innovative mapping exercise, BCP Together have showcased a whole range of organisations who make an incredible difference to the lives of folk living in the BCP (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) region.
ACTS FAST are delighted to be standing with and supporting more families this way, as we know that there are many families in the region who desperately need our help. One of the greatest challenges in supporting parents/carers who have been affected by child sexual abuse is that they simply don't know that they might also need support. Too often they are are disregarded as a victim, because the focus remains on the primary victim, however by supporting the secondary victims it's possible to strengthen the care givers so that they can provide the support the primary victim needs.
CEO (acting) James shares his thoughts on supporting care givers after a CSA disclosure or when they experience "The Knock":
All too often the parents and carers of someone who has disclosed CSA are completely forgotten and they are expected to just get on with life because the abuse didn't directly happen to them. They are told to just somehow cope and move on with their life. That's the common expectation and unfortunately it often isn't that easy.
We know from experience however, that without the right support the care giver is much more vulnerable to mental health pressures and actually, the primary victim is going to suffer as a result in the long run.
The good news is that we know person-centered, tailored emotional support for the secondary victim (the carer giver) leads to a much more stable home environment for nurturing that child for recovery and on-going resilience. So it makes complete sense to invest in and support the carer giver because they are the ones who actually spend the most time supporting the child - they are in fact in the best position to give tailored support!
Our role at ACTS FAST is to help stabilise the care giver, provide relevant emotional support and and then equip them for caring for the child with on-going psycho-educational training. This helps equip them with the new skill's they'll need when caring for a child who has experienced trauma. We'll help them learn the very different approach of therapeutic parenting and can help connect them with others who are going through similar situations.
We'll stand with them and tailor our support to help make the difference they need to have hope and thrive again.
ACTS FAST are delighted to be leading the way here in the UK with trauma-informed therapeutic care for care givers and are pleased to be partnering with BCP council to feature as a provider of BCP Together.
To view the ACTS FAST profile on the BCP council's Together site, head here.