A few words about
Counseling Services
Healing and Empowering Young Minds
The counseling department at the Child Advocacy Center (CAC) focuses on trauma-informed care using a cognitive behavioral approach. Trauma informed care is an approach based on understanding that many clients have suffered traumatic experiences and as counselors as the CAC, we are compassionate and understanding to the issue of child abuse. We help reduce an individual’s triggers formed as a result of the traumatic event. Trauma can be obvious, with a clear cause and symptoms that make sense or trauma can be buried beneath other symptoms that we may not recognize or understand.
The CAC Counseling department provides a variety of services:
- One-one counseling
- TF-CBT Treatment
- Empowered Caregivers Support Group
- Child Sexual Abuse Prevention
- Community Foundation Backpack Program
The counselors at the CAC can assist with reducing the trauma triggers through various form treatment. If you have been impacted by a crime, recently or in the past and live in the Chenango County region, don’t hesitate to contact our office at 607-334-5437 to schedule an intake or appointment.
Frequently Asked Questions:
When you call for a counseling appointment, you will be asked some questions to begin the process of seeing if our agency is a good fit for you. When you meet with your counselor they will help you assess how therapy may be able to help you at this time. The opportunity for counseling is based on a individual level and often times we can meet with you at a destination that works for you.
You can expect to be welcomed into a safe and supportive counseling environment. The Counseling Program is a place for you to be heard and for you to express your feelings in a non-judgmental, confidential, environment.
The Counseling Program provides free, short term (6-26 sessions) counseling to victims of every race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and socio-economic backgrounds who have directly experienced a crime (domestic violence, DWI, sexual abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, burglary/robbery, etc.) We also provide free counseling to secondary victims of crime, those who may not have directly experienced the crime, but are closely connected to the child/adolescent victim (i.e. parent of a child who has been abused, relative or friend of someone who was murdered, etc.).
You will meet one on one with a counselor for about 50 minutes, once a week. During counseling we will help you identify counseling goals, create safety plans, learn about the effects of abuse, and help you navigate and cope with the many systems you encounter as a victim (i.e. law enforcement, CPS, justice system, etc.).
Children ages 5 and up are welcome. We tailor our services to meet your child’s developmental stage.
Much of our work with children uses hand-on, creative play therapy techniques, it is helpful if your child is able to talk with their counselor to process their healing in age appropriate language, however its not necessary.