Here, you will find a written work and accompanying graphic describing a healing option for sexual violence survivors. While this written work is specific to higher education, the framework itself can be utilized in many different spaces with many of these communities discussed on this website.

According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN,n.d.), college women ages 18-24 are three times as likely as all other women to be sexually assaulted. With this information, and knowing that only 20% of female students report their sexual assault (RAINN, 2014), one can begin to see that this is an epidemic on college campuses, influencing the lives, learning, and mental health of the many students being affected. While all campuses have a Title IX coordinator, whose job is to respond, prevent, research, and educate gender based issues on campuses, including, but not limited to sexual assault (The United States Department of Justice, 2001), a counseling center, where most counselors are trained in trauma work, and student wellness organizations, there continues to be a lack of support for sexual assault survivors. While each of the aforementioned campus resources attempt to best respond to this epidemic, there still seems to be a lack of direct counselor education around sexual assault specific trauma. It is important to keep in mind these statistics are reported, meaning the amount of sexual assault occurring are expected to increase if unreported sexual assaults were taken into account (Clark & Pino,2016). As counselors, we need to find ways to better support these students in a way that can also incorporate the community/ campus wellbeing. In this paper, it will be asserted that the combination of a Feminist Theoretical approach; more specifically the Social Action technique, with current counseling strategies for the ever present issue of sexual assault on college campuses could better form a connection to the community for the client as well as give them a sense of purpose with a Post-traumatic Growth lense. Utilizing current literature on the topics of activism, sexual assault, the college experience, and current counseling techniques, one can begin to connect the dots between the empowerment of individuals inspired to get involved with activism and the gap between our current counseling experience being most often provided to survivors and students (Kress et al.,2011).

Literature Review

The topic of sexual assault counseling has been something very reactionary as well as unclear. While there are many counseling skills and techniques that are trauma informed and can be used for a multitude of clients, including sexual assault survivors, there is not yet a specific theory or counseling technique that responds directly to the needs of sexual assault survivors, both on college campuses as well as within the community. While this paper focuses on the implications of sexual assault on college campuses, the ideas within this paper should also be transferable to sexual assault trauma work outside of the college setting.

Social Activism as a Healing Strategy

Social networks of reliable emotional and physical support individuals has been shown to increasing coping with stressful and traumatic events, such as sexual assault (Burke et al.,2016). Oftentimes, involvement in activism includes an aspect of creating a social network working toward the same political shift or goal. Having this network can both allow the client to find connection in a larger support group as well as pursuing societal change making. Further supported by Freire’s classic view into the nature of oppressed people in the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2000), “Dialogue with the people is radically necessary to every authentic revolution” (pg.128), one can see the connection between counseling, or as rudimentarily described as “talk-therapy”, and the power of a current and relevant revolution, specifically surrounding the safety and bodily autonomy of college students, within Freire’s words. Supporting the idea that activism and counseling are congruent within personal growth and healing can be seen through an interdisciplinary lens. One specific case where this can be seen to have value is within the collegiate Bystander Intervention training. The idea that an individual can be supportive in intervening during an uncomfortable or unsafe situation, whether they are known to the victim or not, is both beneficial to the individual intervening as well as the victim needing assistance (Banyard et al.,2003). Using this same idea, activism on a much larger scale can also hold a place for empowerment for clients who have experience sexual assault on their campus.

Counseling for Sexual Violence Survivors

In conjunction with the above assertion that activism holds a place in client healing and connection, there is a necessary understanding of current counseling practices around sexual assault, trauma, and feminist therapy. Goodman et al. researched the current trends of counseling as a social justice informed profession (2004). The sexual assault epidemic tied with rape culture and gender inequality can be seen as social justice issues currently being discussed in the realm of activism. Counselors should have tools to share with clients for ways to embark on social change as well as build on client strengths to provide a more beneficial path to activism for the client (Goodman et al.,2004). While the topic of social justice as a piece of counseling is being discussed, it has not yet been connected to current college counseling in relation to sexual assault, which is presently focused on trauma therapy (White et al.,2011). The lack of empirical evidence supporting specific counseling techniques for this population and in this environment is astounding, and while White et al. (2011) created a guideline for college counseling on this topic, it is very broad and can be difficult for counselors and clinicians to see specific techniques available.

A rather new, and yet critical counseling topic is around the idea of Historical Trauma. Historical Trauma includes, “trauma histories [that] are encapsulated within a larger trauma narrative” and that “overtime this narrative, may accumulate into a multigenerational shared account of events that have harmful effects on functioning and quality of life.” (Martinez & Kawam, 2018). Sexual assault has a permanent place within historical violence, colonization, and multigenerational trauma. This trauma is pervasive within not only the individual experience, but within communities and families alike (Martinez & Kawam, 2018). Taking this into account when working with multicultural survivors and their identity intersections is important when hoping to heal the whole person, including their historical experiences within the body and mind.

Social Action Steps for Counselors

Below includes a preliminary outline for using Feminist Theory to aid survivors in activism and social action in their healing process. It is important to note that this is the beginnings of a framework and not comprehensive or tested in an evidence-based way.

1. Develop a working definition that the client and counselor can use as a shared understanding point for Social Action.

This step is essential because Feminist Theory has the stance that the power differential should be reduced as much as possible during the counseling process (Corey,2009). Sharing the experience of defining the term ‘Social Action” allow for both the client and counselor to work together and build a shared insight of the term, granting the relationship an even starting point between client and counselor. This is the beginning of client empowerment. In order to best build upon the relationship with the client, mental health practitioners who intend to use these steps and this technique should make clients aware of the social justice aspect of therapy and the counseling profession (Ratts et.al.,2016).

2. Determine client's level of commitment and comfortability.

Meeting the client where they are in their journey is necessary to accurately aid the client in personal growth. Being aware and discussing the implication of the intersectionality of the client's identity allows for the counselor and client to best determine an accurate plan of action (Sue & Sue,2016). Pushing the client into an aspect of activism or social change that is not culturally sensitive, taking into account ability of client; physically, mentally, and economically, or being cautious of the clients safety would not best prepare the client for participation in Social Action and could potentially re-traumatize them. To avoid this, open and clear dialogue should occur with the client as the expert of their own story.

3. Create a list of possible interventions the client would be comfortable participating in and write them in order from least to greatest in terms of difficulty.

Allowing the client to express their own knowledge about social change opportunities in the community will continue the empowerment of the client (Corey,2009). While this is important, the counselor should also have extensive knowledge about a multitude of ways the client could become socially involved. Creating a tangible list with the client of areas and opportunities in the community the client can get involved. The list should not be permanent and should change during the process. The counselor should have opportunities available that are all along the spectrum of involvement, time commitment, and ability. Some examples of possible modalities for activism include but are not limited to; Signing an online petition, participating in campus Sexual Assault Awareness Month activities or events, attending the local Slut Walk, or wearing jeans on National Denim Day.

Creating this list should be led by the client with support and honest feedback from the clinician. The purpose of this being flexible is to be parallel to the concerns and possible social action the client might be passionate about or feel prepared for. Social Justice movements change frequently and can/ should be just as intersectional as we are as people, meaning it is the job of the clinician to not only allow the client to look at perceived “sexual assault awareness” or feminist social action events. Not to say these are not excellent places to begin with the client, it is also important to recognize the healing power of movements that might not seem outwardly aligned. MMIW (Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women), Black Lives Matter marches, Bike To Work Day, and many others have the potential to provide just as much opportunity for healing as the aformentioned Slut Walk or other sexual assault awareness aligned events could have for the client.

4. Use this list as a starting point to lead clients into social action on campus and in community.

Using the list the client and the counselor created, the counselor should help the client determine where they would like to begin on the list and work through possible concerns they may have. With the goal of client empowerment, some clients may feel very ready to jump feet first into a social change activity that might cause more internal strife later on. It is the counselor's job to support and trust the client in their instincts while also having open and honest communication around possible outcomes, positive and negative, from the activism experience. Continuing the open dialogue with the client is key to a successful relationship, which is the foundation of this theory (Brown,n.d.).

5. Continued check in’s and evaluations of growth from the activating event and activist participation.

Becoming involved with social change and activism can often become such a powerful experiences clients might feel prepared to move on from their sexual assault experience. While the ultimate goal is to provide the client with support in discovering social justice topics they gravitate towards, and creating communities they can connect to, it is also important to continue work on their sexual assault experience and how that might shape their Social Action. Trauma can manifest in many ways, including PTSD, and depressive symptoms. According to Burke et al. (2016), it is the job of the counselor to aid the client in self regulation and awareness so they may work through these possible responses as the work continues. It is also important to be knowledgeable and be comfortable discussing Historical Trauma as well.

Considerations

When working with clients from a Feminist Theoretical approach, one can see similarities to a Person-Centered approach (Corey,2009). Keeping this in mind, it is necessary to keep the power differential present between client and counselor very low. Having a client and counselor with the same power in the space can give the client a sense of decision making around their experience with this proposed technique. Especially working with survivors, who often feel their autonomy, power, and voice, among other things, has been violently taken away from them. A critical point within the relationship building with the client is acknowledging and being willing to evaluate the power differential as the relationship builds, during social action activities, and in the debrief process.

Included within this is the idea of client willingness. This is where the clinicians expertise, while keeping in mind the above concern of power, will be utilized. Assisting the client in determining what their willingness, readiness, and potential growth might be at any given moment. There is not a fixed assessment in which a client reaches a point of willingness, but rather part of the cycle of the therapy process. The type of Social Action proposed to the client should be congruent with their mental, physical, and societal capacity. It is crucial to keep in mind the intersectionalities of sexual assault/trauma survivors, as this can have a large effect on their concept of activism and healing (Shiraev & Levy,2013).Being aware of the high suicidality rates among this population; due to feelings of hopelessness and isolation, a sense of urgency is necessary when looking at the efficacy for this type of therapy (Kilpatrick,1992). As counselors, it is important to utilize the technique, including the one previously proposed, with a culturally sensitive lense (Burke et al.,2016). This proposed technique for sexual assault survivors should be modified and personalized to each individual client needs, abilities, identity, safety, and basic needs concerns. While identity can be a broad spectrum of personal and cultural affinities, one major piece of identity is multiculturalism and its many iterations.

Multicultural Implications

The experience of sexual assault cannot be generalized with a western perspective of trauma, or through a scope of gender binaries. Rather, it needs to be viewed with the same flexibility as multicultural counseling theory. In the book, The Beginning and End of Rape by Sarah Deer, the topic of sexual assault specific to Native American women is examined. Using the above technique, while having further education on the different experiences of sexual assault, depending on socioeconomic status, culture, where one lives, or a myriad of other identifiers, is the only real way to ensure that this proposed technique can be utilized within different populations of students at different types of campuses. For example, Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado is considered a Native American serving institution with a tuition waiver for Native American students. If a counselor at this college was to use Social Action with a Native American student who has experience campus sexual assault, it would be essential know that, according to Deer, cultural and societal factors all have an impact on sexual violence and the many ways individuals can experience trauma and healing (2015). Using this information, a counselor utilizing this technique should communicate with the client about possible Social Action activities they can participate in that are cognizant of their cultural affiliation as well as their societal ability. Being able to shift the Social Action techniques to fit the clients needs, abilities, and cultural experiences is key to creating empowerment for the client that truly connects to them. For example, if we use Sirma Bilges’ approach to feminism and its exclusion of veiled Muslim women, we can see how choosing an activist activity could have the potential to harm members of the group rather than empower them if viewed through the lens of western empowerment and choice making (2010). The clinician must keep these multicultural views of feminism and sexual violence in the forefront of their minds when assisting the client.

While not particularly “multicultural” a similar and connected consideration needs to be made for the role of capitalism within the feminist theory as well as within survivors experiences. Womens’ Activism and Globalization discusses the effects of work pressures, production concerns, and financial security on women within the world (Naples & Desai, 2004). One can conclude that these women have often experienced sexual violence as well. By reducing financial barriers, being cautious of material purchases, and being willing to discuss the role of capitalism within the disenfranchisement of the client, the clinician can create a foundation for open dialogue around the role capitalism plays within the healing of the survivor.

Working with survivors is innately multicultural and diverse. Clinicians working with any population, including this one, need to be willing to do the work to evaluate one's own internal biases and assumptions about feminism, empowerment, and survivorship as well as being aware that, “underserved populations- women of color, low-income people, undocumented women, persons’ with disabilities, and LGBTQ populations are disproportionately impacted by sexual assault.” (NSVRC, n.d.). This awareness and cultural humility can create a more solid foundation for relationship with the survivor/client as well as construct a more solid view of social action within the community.

Awareness needs to be a practice, not a box to be checked. It is important for all clinicians, especially those working with populations with deep and pervasive trauma histories, to be aware of the western, White male perspective of “talk-therapy” and seeking mental health support in general. The technique and ideas described above would actively work against those norms and invoke a more collectivist way of thinking, rather than the individualistic thinking the mental health field began with, that has been shown to guide and impact psychological processing (Bhuller et al, 2012). A collectivist lens for this practice would be necessary to be more aligned with social movements that are more often based in group success and needs, community growth, and institutional change. The dichotomy between the classic, individualistic, one-on-one therapy process and the collectivist group-based needs of social action can be akin to putting a square peg in a round hole. Daunting might be a word clinicians could use to describe attempting to utilize this in practice, but the potential outcome for the clients, community, and survivors has the potential to far outweigh the growing pains that come along with utilizing a brand new therapeutic technique.

Discussion

By critically examining our current response to sexual assault on college campuses as counselors, we can see the missing pieces for client well-being, emotional healing, multicultural viewpoints, and community support. Utilizing a relatively new technique from a modern counseling theory we can begin to ascertain that there may be new and better ways to provide mental health care to college sexual assault survivors. Feminist theory directly relates to the empowerment necessary for client growth and the political nature of sexual assault as a topic (Corey,2009). Using the Social Action technique to provide our clients a safe place to get involved with activism around a myriad of topics, we can help them to better heal from their traumatic experience. While aiding in client growth, we are also providing the community with agents for change, using their stories in a safe and positive way to help not only the counseling profession better respond to survivors, but also participating by proxy in community social justice. With the steps outlined above, and with more research on the topic, campuses and community counselors can provide a tool that will give their clients a fresh healing modality.

In order to best determine if the preliminary guide for Social Action as a technique is accurate and responds to the needs of clients in an efficient and meaningful way, future research needs to be done in an empirical way involving real clients in a therapeutic environment. Using a Feminist Theoretical approach in an empirical research study can be challenging due to the very abstract nature of the counseling type, by being aware of the empirical aspect of the importance of relationships in the counseling process (Brown,2006). This should include the relationship between counselor and client as well as client and community. One example of possible future research would be a qualitative study in which one therapist runs two different groups, the first group would be one done with the focus of Social Action and the second would be done without any influence of Feminist theory/Social Action. The goal of this study would be to observe the differences in client outcome, empowerment, and healing between the two different types of groups. While this has the added exposure of a group setting, it can be easier to discover possible benefits of utilizing the Social Action technique (Moss et al.2017). It is important for the leader of this group to get accurate and well thought out supervision, as this can be a difficult subject and action to participate in with clients (Moss et al.,2017).

Holding several considerations, world views, and global thinking patterns is essential to being a supportive clinician in this space with the survivors one might serve. This proposed therapy program would hopefully allow for flexibility between each client and clinician it is used with. Future research might show the efficacy of using this within the group therapy space and re-working some of the practices to allow the group to create social action as a team, rather than as an individual, which would be more aligned with the collectivist goal of this practice. While our instinct might be to lean on Feminist Theory and historical trauma healing approaches, it is also important to allow for this technique to be mastered in a way free from western ideals of “theory” and “practice” within the mental health and therapy space.

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