Family violence counselling for children in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie

The Foundation has 12 counsellors providing specialist family violence counselling to children and young people across Tasmania in a program supported by the state government. Each counsellor provides up to 3 hours of counselling per week for 10-14 children and their families. They make sure the children are protected from further exposure to family violence. They help children to make sense of what happened and what the impact of the violence has been on them and their relationships. Often, family violence has meant that children are forced into lying, to keep the danger at home secret from those around them. Children are confused and often believe that they were responsible for allowing the family violence to start or keep occurring. The counselling allows children to understand the truth about the violence. It supports children to learn to trust again. It introduces love back into their relationships rather than aggression and violence. It supports children and young people to learn techniques to manage their worries and concerns. The impact of the counselling has been enormous. Children start to feel safe. They start being able to engage in play. Their school performance has improved. It has proven that children who have been affected by family violence do not just get better on their own. They need specialist help to heal.