During the summer of 2020 the Community Health Council was awarded a two-year grant based on violence prevention and enhancing trauma response in Lebanon County. Now entering the last phase of that grant, the Health Council is announcing the final phase of access to no-cost mobile trauma therapy.
The Health Council partnered with a local mental health provider, Empower The Mind, to provide these services. Empower The Mind is owned and operated by Dr. Martha Thompson and offers the free trauma therapy by contracting with licensed mental health professionals.
Additionally, SARCC has partnered on this grant to offer EMDR and TF-CBT therapies to survivors of sexual violence, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment under this grant. Family members who are also impacted by these traumas can contact SARCC for the same no-cost services. Services are available in both English and Spanish under this grant.
Individuals can make self-referrals to sign up for a free trauma assessment and begin working on a personalized plan for trauma treatment. There is an online referral form set up on the Community Health Council’s website. Community members can also contact Empower The Mind and SARCC directly to request the services.
Trauma is a common and widespread experience in our community. More than 60% of adults have experienced some form of trauma in their lifetime. Trauma can be related to life-threatening events, military combat, abuse history, incarceration, unstable home environment, or domestic violence, just to name a few.
Access to this no cost trauma therapy is one part of a three-part effort to combat violence and build healing responses to trauma in our communities. In addition to providing access to no-cost trauma therapy, the grant awarded in 2020 allowed 11 local mental health providers to receive training in an evidence-based trauma intervention, and convened a board of community members to implement the evidence-based communities that care model for violence prevention.
Individuals interested in learning more about this effort or getting involved in the violence prevention efforts run by the Community Health Council should contact Caitlin Lockard, Connected Together Coordinator at SARCC.
