P.E.I. Family Violence Prevention Services has 2 new ways to offer psychological support
'We do see people who are in some very fragile conditions,' says executive director
P.E.I. Family Violence Prevention Services has come up with ways to deliver more free psychological support to its clients, with the help of the University of Prince Edward Island and an innovative enterprise it calls The Nest.
The organization traditionally focuses on things like education, support groups, emergency shelters and outreach services. But executive director Danya O'Malley said there was a gap when it came to offering clinical services.
"There's a lot of reasons why support is exactly what people need. They need somebody to walk alongside them on the path that they're on, somebody to help them navigate services," O'Malley said.
"We do see people who are in some very fragile conditions, psychologically, and it is sometimes challenging to receive services in a timely way."
That's why last year, they began working with UPEI Doctor of Psychology practicum students to offer free services to clients, with oversight from the university, O'Malley said.
"It was a wonderful experience," she said. "The students have been amazing."
Two new practicum students started in May and will be spending two days a week with Family Violence Prevention Services until mid-December.
UPEI psychology professor Philip Smith said a supervising psychologist will ensure any client is a good fit for the student. Then they work on a plan of how to proceed and keep a close eye on how the process is going.
"The clients can be assured that the students in a practicum setting are being supervised, so that the level, the quality of service that the clients are receiving would be parallel to the quality of services that they would receive from a registered psychologist."
This is an opportunity for them to work with ... folks who have had experiences around family violence, domestic abuse.— UPEI professor Philip Smith
It's also a chance for the students to learn directly in the community.
"This is an opportunity for them to work with... folks who have had experiences around family violence, domestic abuse," said Smith.
"That's an important kind of learning opportunity for the students."
Clinical services for public
Family Violence Prevention Services is continuing to build on work like this. O'Malley said the organization is now offering some clinical services to the general public — including therapy, assessments and consultations.
It's called The Nest.
"We have started essentially the same thing as a private counselling firm, but it is run by us and funding us," she said. "So a clinician would be an employee of ours, and then we receive their billable hours, and they are paid a portion and a portion goes back to the organization."
She said it's run as a social enterprise — the goal is to eventually generate enough revenue from paying customers so that money will be available to offer clinical support to some clients for free.
"It is a gap, definitely, for our clients, for everyone. People can wait a long time ... [services] can be very expensive," said O'Malley.
"We have many children on our caseload whose parents would love to get a child assessment — a psycho-educational assessment perhaps, or maybe an autism assessment. And access to those things can be incredibly difficult."
It all depends on the uptake, but O'Malley is hoping such assessments will be available free for some clients this year.
"We would have dozens and dozens of clients who could benefit from this, especially if you're looking Island-wide," she said.