How to use your creativity to help support you on your healing journey By: Selina Mattison, Placement Student at The Gatehouse, Social Service Worker Diploma Art is often used as an outlet for expressing difficult emotions. The arts are quite diverse, and have many different forms such as painting, architecture, sculpture, literature, music, performing and cinema. These outlets both help the artist and the viewer. However, you don’t have to be an artist to have creativity. There...
Grounding, Dissociation, and Remaining Present By Jamie Ayotte, The Gatehouse Placement Student – Social Service Worker Program Survivors of childhood sexual abuse experience many unfortunate side effects as a result of their trauma. No one story is identical, but a lot of the similar issues experienced by different survivors are common. One of these that I have been thinking a lot about recently is called dissociation, as it has crept its way back into my life...
The Significance of Community and Belonging Written by: Jasleen Chadha, The Gatehouse Placement student, Social Service Worker Diploma Program Community and belonging play a significant role in our lives. A community can come together in many ways and that can include having shared experiences (Foregeard, 2022). This is exactly what happens at The Gatehouse when survivors sit with one another and experience “me too” moments in a group. For many, it is the first time they feel...
Grounding: The 5-4-3-2-1 Technique By: Elizabeth Jeroy – The Gatehouse Placement Student, Community & Justice Services Diploma Program Grounding techniques often use the five senses to immediately connect you with the here and now. If you are experiencing overwhelming emotions or triggers, an example of some activities you can try include spending time with a pet, counting backwards from 100, or running your hands underwater. The 5-4-3-2-1 Technique The 5-4-3-2-1 Technique can be an...
Grounding in a Time of Crisis By: Beatriz Cruz, The Gatehouse Placement Student, Social Service Worker Diploma Program Have you used your grounding techniques today? Grounding is often used in situations where stressful and alarming feelings may arise, which may prove to be extremely helpful for survivors of childhood sexual abuse in their healing journey. Grounding may not come easy at first as it may take some time to figure out which one you find more...