Mental Health
a) Counselling
The supportive counselling provided by CCVT staff play a major role in the process of healing the traumatic effects and improving the mental health of the survivors. During counselling sessions, clients are reassured, comforted and encouraged in their endeavours to overcome difficult situations. Once some trust has developed, then the connection of clients with other services available both within and outside the centre is worked out. Such connections require listening skills, time, empathy, patience and sensitivity, among other things, as well as some knowledge of different cultures and resources in the community. The aim is to ensure access to services that integrate the inner resources within the individual with available external support, thus ensuring the re-empowerment of the individual at his or her own speed.
b) Support Groups
In 1989, the CCVT began to provide professional services on the premises. The position of crisis counsellor was created and a group support program began.
Group programs now include a drop-in program, which assists survivors to access services available to them in Toronto. As well, the drop-in programs helps survivors to overcome the isolation they may feel. It allows clients to meet other survivors of torture in a comfortable and informal atmosphere. Child minding facilities are on the premises.
Mutual support groups for men, women, children and youths which address the unique general and specific problems survivors face in adapting to Canadian society. Some of the support groups that have been held include: the Somali Women’s Group, Iranian Men and Women’s Group, African Woman’s Group and the Albanian Family Group. A bilingual staff member and a volunteer physician who is a member of the medical group of the Centre are some of the resources available to the groups. The model for this program is available on request.
These programs reflect one of the premises of the CCVT; that some survivors can best support and encourage one another, since they may share similar backgrounds, experiences and problems.
c) Crisis Intervention
Clients face all kinds of situations that can become a crisis in view of their previous experiences and having to confront barriers and lack of available resources. The most common issues that can manifest as a severe suicidal crisis include traumatic experiences, family separation, financial crisis, loss of status as well as other losses. Other crises may be due to extreme stress. The role that CCVT takes is to support the client with reassurance, information and in many cases, advocacy to ensure their protection and their rights.
d) Art Therapy
The Art Therapy Program works in conjunction with the basic services of counselling, crisis intervention and referral to our extensive network of lawyers, doctors, psychiatrists and social service workers. Art is a universal language that allows survivors of torture and war to express themselves graphically in a manner that allows them to overcome the various traumas associated with torture. The use of art assists survivors in learning to cope with the torture experience and transforms it into one that is understood and objectified. The art of pain as well as of solidarity.
e) Coordinated Professional Services
The CCVT provides the link between the survivor of torture and a network of professional services which includes doctors, lawyers, social service workers and volunteers. The medical network includes experienced physicians, psychiatrists and other medical specialists. Referrals for survivors of torture are accepted and the CCVT settlement counsellor will assess a survivor's physical and psychological condition and refer the survivor for appropriate medical attention and treatment with one or more of the CCVT's associated physicians.
The Centre has developed a medical protocol for doctors to examine torture survivors and document their experience. This may be necessary, for instance, if requested by the survivor's lawyer to support a refugee claim before the Immigration and Refugee Board.
There is a reciprocal referral service for legal and social assistance services when required. For instance, a CCVT survivor, if requested, will be put in contact with a lawyer who is knowledgeable and experienced about the issues and problems faced by a survivor of torture. In turn, a lawyer who has a refugee client can refer him or her to the Centre for assistance. Welfare and social assistance workers are able to contact the CCVT about clients who they feel could benefit from its services.
The CCVT acts as an advocate on the survivor's behalf when requested to do so by the survivor, especially with regard to immigration and other government agencies.
Settlement Services
For many survivors of torture, the process of resettlement can be just as traumatic as the initial trauma they experienced. Essential to the process of recovery is a positive resettlement process. Unfortunately, there are many barriers to positive resettlement. To assist in overcoming these barriers, CCVT’s Settlement Services includes information/orientation, interpretation/translation, time limited counselling, employment-related issues and referrals to resources relating to the economic, social, cultural, educational and recreational facilities that could contribute to the initial settlement of the client. Counsellors also provide information about and access (by referrals) to housing, social assistance, citizenship, health plans, income tax, skills training and applications for family reunification and sponsorships.
Settlement services delivered at CCVT are very important in the recovery process. Building trust is the first step required in order to be able to proceed with services. This requires skill, time and patience. A careful assessment is done for every client and individualized attention is provided to ensure that all receive the care that they deserve. This task goes beyond giving information, referrals and filling out forms. Many clients require lengthy interviews and assistance to clarify misunderstandings, mediate conflicts, facilitate access to services, validate stories of torture, and to support them during crisis.
Children/Youth Program
The Children’s Program at CCVT has been created to meet the specific needs of refugee children and their families in Canada through assessment, individual and family counselling, crisis intervention, support groups for children, youth and parents, often including Art Therapy, and referrals to the health network of experienced physicians and psychiatrists for documentation and treatment. As well, the Child and Youth Program Worker provides specialized settlement services, recreational and empowerment activities that incorporate conflict resolution, mentoring, peer support and story-telling.
The entire family has been subjected to the trauma of flight and resettlement as refugees, the shock of encountering a new language and culture or loss of extended family and friends. That is the reason why working with the family as a unit, helping parents deal with their own traumatic experience and restoring family functioning is an essential element in the philosophy of the Children’s Program.
Public Education
The public education program of the CCVT responds to the numerous requests the Centre receives for information, assistance and consultations on torture and the effects of torture as well as regularly producing publications such as ?First Light? For use as resource material and to raise awareness and sensitivity to the particular unique needs of survivors of torture. The Centre answers individual inquiries form community groups, students, researchers, and professionals. They conduct numerous seminars and workshops, particularly for those working with survivors of torture as well as attend and present at conferences both nationally and internationally.
Associated members of the CCVT carry out public education as well. Many conduct research in partnership with educational institutions such as University of Toronto and York University, publish in academic journals and the popular media, and speak publicly on torture related issues. The CCVT works closely with Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), refugee law offices and the UNHCR, as well as various university faculties such as Social Work, Medicine and Law.
The CCVT is concerned with expanding the network of social service agencies that can provide survivors of torture with much needed assistance. They are a member of many of the local and national groups working with refugees and newcomers, such as the Toronto Refugee Affairs Council, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, Canadian Council for Refugees, Canadian Network for the Health of Survivors of Torture and Organized Violence and are accredited to the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) The CCVT also is an active participant in efforts to promote and encourage government policies to meet the unique needs of survivors of torture and their families in Canada.
English as a Second Language and Computer Training
The ESL program at the CCVT was established in 1984 and continues to be a major Centre activity. The program and its curriculum are especially designed for survivors.
It is difficult to learn a new language as an adult, to adjust to a new and different culture, and to deal with the everyday problems of a newcomer to Canada, such as financial, employment and immigration difficulties. The survivor of torture faces additional unique problems. Some of the after-effects of torture, such as lack of concentration, distrust of strangers, and fear of groups and authority figures, are barriers to learning a new language. ESL classes at the Centre are small and informal. They are in comfortable surroundings and have a calm, non-threatening atmosphere. Literacy classes and individual tutoring are provided as part of the program. Childcare is available. The ESL classes at the CCVT can help reduce a survivor's isolation, providing him or her with emotional encouragement and support.
The computer training enables CCVT clients to develop their computer literacy and proficiency, which facilitates their access to the Canadian job market.
Volunteer Program
Volunteers are a vital part of the CCVT and its programs. One of the most important roles of the volunteer is to act as a Befriender to a survivor. Volunteers are paired with a CCVT client and provide ongoing personal, non-professional support. They can offer clients basic information and life skills and general assistance to help the survivor adjust to life in a new country. Volunteers act as escorts and interpreters, accompanying clients to appointments with physicians, specialists, lawyers and social service agencies. Volunteers are also important in the ESL program. They allow students to learn and practice in small groups or one-on-one with a volunteer tutor. They assist with general office support, social events, a monthly newsletter as well as with committee work.
International Projects
As part of the mandate to respond to the needs of survivors abroad, as well as in Canada, the CCVT has supported the efforts of three clinics in Central America which offer treatment to children traumatized by the continuing violence in the region. The Centre has provided partnership with the Imbali Rehabilitation Centre in South Africa and the Ethiopian Centre for Survivors of Torture. The projects are supported by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Torture Victims.
The CCVT is associated with a coalition of centres that support victims of violent oppression and torture, in exile or in their own countries. It is also involved in networking, consultations and the exchange of ideas and information with international organizations such as the United Nations (UNHCR, UN Committee against Torture, joint NGO and States conferences in Geneva), Amnesty International, and the IRCT, particularly on policy issues and by lobbying governments to release human rights activists globally. CCVT also provides support and training to centres in Africa, Asia and Europe, and participates in conferences and workshops throughout the world
[
view less ]
Home
Browse Resources
Mission/Vision 
