Individual Counseling Department Spotlight

We create space for all the emotions a client might be feeling or avoiding. We help them see the connection between the trauma and their current struggles, even if it has been years or decades since the trauma occurred. We serve children and adults of all gender identities, impacted by the continuum of sexual trauma exposure, from acute incidents such as a recent rape or sexual abuse, to chronic experiences of childhood sexual abuse.

We provide an opportunity for them to sit in non-judgment – the therapist not judging them and the client not judging their own experience. Therapy is like a really long guided meditation. We’re just noticing things and providing the client the opportunity to notice too – even if what we’re both noticing together is that the client isn’t ready to begin processing certain parts of their trauma.

In our practice we want to be nonjudgmental and present with people wherever they’re at. Our goal is to welcome clients no matter what walk of life they have come from and current situation with their mental health and trauma. We serve all survivors of rape and sexual assault and those supportive of them, regardless of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, income, ability, or religion. We have to be flexible with who we can build relationships with and form a bond to where we have created a safe place for them to go to their darkest places.

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”- David Ito

The team is trained in multiple modalities. We have a few therapists that are working on certification in somatic experiencing, and we also have clinicians that are certified in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) .EMDR involves getting clients to enter a rem like stage of their brain cycle so they can process events or memories that are stuck. At times therapy involves talking, and at times, we do internal processing such as art and yoga.

We have great connections with Job & Family services and Child Protective services along with other providers such as physicians, case managers, and advocates. If someone has psychiatric or substance abuse and needs treatment we are going to work with other providers and create a multi-disciplinary team approach. For training purposes we work with other organizations such as the LGBTQ+ Center, we are hoping to provide groups to diverse populations that we never provided before. We also will partner with the SART teams or other team members to provide training, and may train other organizations on Trauma Informed Care or how to work with survivors of sexual assault.

A lot of our team members are a part of many different collaboratives or coalitions in the community so we can bring in the survivors voice to which ever project is going on. We participate in the Trauma Collaborative in Cleveland and lend our voice to housing coalitions. The Child Advocacy Center has been a really big partner for us across many departments as well. We are at a point where we want to dive more into the community.

The Therapeutic Services Team is in every office with at least one therapist located at every CRCC location and can be reached via email, Teams, and or Zoom at any time.

Group therapy programs are something we are in the process of improving: for the past three months we have been working on this along with taking input from other teams on how we can grow, expand and be more impactful for the survivor. Our team will be implementing new changes such as an ongoing group throughout the year, adding different groups based on feedback from survivors (such as a gender non-conforming support group), and new training for our team on effective engagement and intervention. Finally, we have been consistently training and learning new techniques to implement in telehealth.

Play therapy has had some recent successes and adapted to telehealth with keeping young children’s attention. One of our therapists recently reported that a client of hers has been able to sleep in her own bed for the first time since her assault. other therapists are diving into yoga nidra and meditation to help connect with survivors via telehealth.

Team Members:
Chief Program Officer: Kirsti Mouncey
Director of Clinical Services: Jessica Martin
Eastern Regional Manager & Trauma Therapist: Hester Rathbone
Clinical Manager and Trauma Therapist: Sheri Stevens
Manager of Western Regional Services and Trauma Therapist: Annette Kent
Trauma Therapist and Clinical Coordinator: Bridget Branning
Trauma Therapists: Connie Lawrence, Linda Garcia-Cruz, Jessica Accord, Lauren Bagoly
Child Trauma Therapist: Myia Makupson
CAC Child Trauma Therapist: Kiera Graham
Bilingual Trauma Therapist: Ruth Sudilovsky-Pecha
Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Facilitator: Rowan Silverberg