Newcastle not-for-profit organisation What Were You Wearing? has recently announced new free support services for survivors of sexual violence.

What Were You Wearing’s healing groups are set to be monitored by a Counsellor or Registered Psychologist to bring survivors together to connect, learn healing techniques, and encourage emotional safety.

Founder of What Were You Wearing, Sarah Williams says this service is much needed.

“Currently in the Newcastle region, there are no free groups or workshops that exclusively focus on sexual violence,” Sarah said.

“We saw the importance of developing one that was free and easy to access for all survivors, regardless of their situation.

“It’s important to us to have a Counsellor or Psychologist present at every healing group session, based on the nature of these groups.

“Victims of sexual assault often experience intense emotions after their experiences and may be triggered by certain topics and discussions.

“Having discussions with a professional facilitator can help create emotional safety, offer support and ensure everyone’s boundaries and confidentiality is respected.”

Head of Administration at What Were You Wearing, Ethan Fraser said the new service offering is something that’s been in the works for a long time.

“The Healing Group is something we’ve been planning for quite a while,” Ethan said.

“As a team mostly made up of survivors, it was incredibly important for us to offer this as a free service that anyone could access.

“We are really proud to have brought this together with the help of some amazing Counselling and Psychologists that have agreed to work with us.

“These incredible people are collectively bringing decades of experience in providing evidence-based practices that can assist with healing.

“For those who are interested in attending these groups, they will be running once a month, and require registration.”

To register for What Were You Wearing’s Healing Groups, head to their website.