Our Community Heroes in the Spotlight for September 2022 are ACTS FAST (Abused Children’s Trauma Support Family Advice Strategy Team).
With September 10th being World Suicide Prevention Day we wanted to highlight support available to families in the darkest of times, to let people know there is help and recovery is possible.
ACTS FAST supports families in two highly specialised ways:
- Supporting the parents/carers of children who have been sexually abused
- Supporting non-offending parents/carers whose loved one has accessed indecent images
ACTS FAST provide therapeutic support, counselling and psychological training through early support so that parents, carers and families can recover and thrive again in shorter amounts of time, helping limit any negative impact. They empower parents and carers with skills, understanding, compassion and holistic care to support themselves and their children.
The kinds of support on offer are:
Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Family Support
Supporting families dealing with the impact of CSA disclosures. We provide unique, compassionate care to help parents and carers stabilise and go onto thrive again. We can’t undo what’s happened, but we can equip you to successfully overcome many of the challenges.
Therapeutic Support
Helping parents/carers feel themselves again is crucial to helping overcome the daily challenges and get back on track again. Trauma Therapy is about stabilising and working through some of what’s happened to help you be in a stronger place for the next steps of your journey.
Counselling
Our counselling is person-centred and therefore we have a flexible approach in how this takes place. We’ll discuss expectations and commitments prior to starting, to ensure we’re working to the same goals. We’ll discuss expected length and also have regular review points for your benefit.
Support Groups
We facilitate peer support groups called “Brighter Futures” which are all about building up your support network and equipping you to enhance your well-being.
These groups are invitation only for those we feel would benefit most from the sessions.
Service User ‘Sam’ said “I didn’t know there were other parents going through the same stuff as me, and that’s changed my life. ACTS FAST has pretty much saved my life, so a big thank you to them.”
You can find more information about ACTS FAST at www.actsfast.org.uk