Inside CARE House: Teen Group Brings Survivors Together for Healing, Friendship
The teenage years can be anyone’s most challenging and confusing time of life. Add learning how to survive abuse on top of social and school pressures, and it creates a situation that most teens simply can’t handle on their own.
That is why CARE House of Oakland County offers the Teen Girl Survivor Group, a seven-week program designed specifically to help 13 to 18 year-old girls, at no cost to them or their families.
“We found after many years of providing individual therapy to teenage girls, they can feel really isolated in their experiences,” explained Tiffany Root, MA, LPC, a CARE House therapist. “They may not know that someone in the next office could be experiencing something similar… a shared connection with other peers is something you don’t get in individual therapy.”
The group provides teens with a space to connect with others who have shared experiences, to supplement individual therapy, as part of the healing process. It includes up to seven girls who are in various stages of therapy. “We want it to be safe, not intimidating,” added Root, who noted there is a set curriculum, but flexibility is built in so the teens can tell their stories.
“It provides a sense of community and connection,” explained Root, who said that group members often end up making friends because they have learned to trust each other in a safe environment where confidentiality is paramount. “Despite some of the challenging things about teenage years, they also allow for a shared language and shared communication.”
Facilitators say that in each group, which runs in the spring and fall every year, girls go from being apprehensive to looking forward to each session. While the teens initially feel alone, like they are the only one in the world that this is has happened to, they ultimately learn that is not the case.
“In trauma treatment in general, I want clients to get to a place where their trauma doesn’t define their whole lives. They can move forward with ways they can take care of themselves,” Root explained. “Group therapy can be especially helpful for those who blame themselves. Seeing other vulnerable people creates empathy and then group members can focus on their own situations with a different perspective. If a girl is sharing a story and you hear it from someone else, it helps you see your own situation in a different way.”
Organizers say the Teen Survivor Group helps participants improve their self-esteem and self-worth and build supportive connections that lead to better outcomes throughout their lives. “While in treatment, some survivors have trouble thinking about tomorrow, let alone what life might be like years from now... Through therapy, they’re able to heal, reorient toward their goals and dreams for the future,” Root added.
The Teen Survivor Group meets after school and covers specific topics ranging from coping skills to personal safety.
For more information or to register contact Lyndsay Stickley at (248) 333-4937 or lstickley@carehouse.org
Curious to learn more? Click the links below to read the rest of the Program Spotlights!
Inside CARE House: The First Rooms for Children
Inside CARE House: A Dedicated Interview Space
Inside CARE House: A Comfortable Place for Therapy
Inside CARE House: A CARE House “CASA” Helps Make Dreams Come True
Inside CARE House: On Human Trafficking
Inside CARE House: How Home Visits Can Prevent Abuse
Inside CARE House: Important Work Also Happens Outside Our Doors
Inside CARE House: Preventing Abuse: The Nurturing Parenting Program Provides Tools and Advice
Inside CARE House: Family Support Group Builds Community After Abuse