Comfort at counselling centre
DOUGLASDALE- The Douglasdale Victim Empowerment Centre at Douglasdale Police Station provides trauma counselling to community members who have been affected by crime.
The Department of Community Safety rated the centre as being not only one of the best in the Honeydew Cluster, but also in the whole of Gauteng.
Head counsellor, Carol Badenhorst explained that there are seven trained counsellors at the centre who are all volunteers. “We have an emergency number that is manned 365 days a year,” she said. Badenhorst said that usually the counsellor on duty gets the crime stats for the day, then contacts the victims to suggest counselling, but in some cases the counsellors also attend crime scenes to offer on-site trauma counselling.
“We also do group counselling sessions, especially in the case of a business robbery,” Badenhorst said.
All the trauma counselling at the centre is free, and in most cases the victim will have three counselling sessions before being referred elsewhere if more help was needed.
The centre is certainly an oasis at the station, the uniform exterior belies the warm and comforting interior of the unit which offers a counselling area, a bathroom, kitchen and even a bedroom should victims need a place to stay overnight.
Badenhorst explained that the centre also gives victims of rape or abuse care packs with toiletries and basic clothing to help them feel comfortable.
“In today’s society people say you should just accept crime, and that makes some people feel pressured to get back to normal after an abnormal situation like a robbery,” Badenhorst said.
“I recommend counselling in all cases of trauma. People sometimes go through trauma and think it’s ok because life goes on, but trauma can re-surface later on.”
For more information on trauma counselling or for details on how to become a volunteer contact Carol Badenhorst.
Details: 078 850 2341.
