21 STEP PROGRAMME - SURVIVORS TO THRIVERS

We meet the survivors who are seeking support or who merely want to have a conversation and be heard. We fellow survivors provide a listening to them as we know through experience that talking to another survivor is therapeutic.

Adopted from The Morris Centre's ACSA programme, we have support groups which uses a 21 step programme with several unique features. It is psychologically-based and was created expressly to address the particular needs of adult survivors of child abuse. To our knowledge, it is the only program that provides a psychological framework for the complex process of healing from child abuse and moving on with life. BOLA combines elements drawn from the recovery movement (programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous) with a theoretical approach that emphasises recognising and resolving past pain, identifying maladaptive coping behaviours and developing new skills that foster self-esteem and healthy relationships.

Second, our support group meetings follow carefully scripted meeting formats, are run by lay facilitators, themselves survivors, who have received training to help them handle the problems that may arise in meetings and to provide a safe, structured environment for fellow survivors. Third, ASCA meetings are open to survivors of all types of child abuse: physical, sexual and emotional.

The purpose of ASCA meetings is to allow survivors to share their abuse and recovery experiences; to receive support and affirmation for their recovery efforts; to try out new, more adaptive behaviors and, in so doing, to better understand themselves and their recovery process. As survivors come to terms with their abuse histories and develop healthier behaviors and relationship patterns, they are able to test out some of those new patterns. The increased confidence, mastery and sense of responsibility that survivors build as a result of participating in ASCA meetings are skills that transfer to the larger world.

We do not work in isolation. We come together as a collaborative effort between Bola, The Morris Centre, survivors, volunteers, professionals, NGOs working in the space, and the community at large.

AWARENESS Sessions

We intend to create awareness around child sexual abuse in schools, colleges, parents, corporates, etc. The reason being that most people don't know how deeply and long lasting the effect of abuse is. This will help them understand behaviours of survivors in their life.

CREATE SUPPORT GROUPS IN YOUR CITIES

We would like other cities, towns, and villages to come together the way did. Experience the solidarity first hand and get the opportunity to stand for yourself and others too.

We are currently in:

• Pune
• Bangalore (launching soon)
• Delhi (launching soon)
• Mumbai (work in progress)