What is Seeking Safety?
Seeking Safety was designed for people with a history of trauma and/or addiction.
Trauma means a distressing event such as a child abuse, major accident, combat, domestic violence, natural disaster, etc.
Addiction means destructive use of alcohol, drugs, gambling, food, shopping, etc.
It focuses on coping skills to help you become more safe in your relationships, thinking, and actions. WJCS and The LOFT are partnering to offer an LGBTQA Seeking Safety Telehealth Group to create a space for community members to openly discuss among their peers the intersections of LGBTQA identities, substance use and trauma.
We are currently offering this new opportunity for participants to enroll in the LGBTQA Seeking Safety Telehealth Group which plans to meet on-line weekly on Wednesday evenings from 5:30pm-6:30pm Eastern Time. The group plans to start as soon as we have enough interested participants enrolled. Thank you for helping spread the word to others who also may benefit from this new group.
Seeking Safety is very safe and optimistic. It focuses on your strengths and helps you increase them. It has 25 topics, with one topic being covered each week. The model was designed for a very high level of flexibility. Each of the 25 topics is independent of the others so if you miss a session, you can easily re-enter the group the next week.
Examples of the topics are:
- Safety
- Taking Good Care of Yourself
- Honesty
- Asking for Help
- Recovery Thinking
- Setting Boundaries in Relationships
- Healthy Relationships
- Creating Meaning
- Compassion
- Detaching from Emotional Pain (Grounding)
- Community Resources
- Discovery
- Getting Others to Support Your Recovery
- Integrating the Split Self
- Commitment
- Respecting Your Time
- Coping with Triggers
- Self-Nurturing
- Red and Green Flags
- Life Choices
Every session of Seeking Safety is structured with a check-in, an inspiring quotation, discussion, and check-out. The goal is to use time well to help you get the most from each session.
Seeking Safety focuses on the present. This means you will not be asked to reveal upsetting stories of trauma or addiction. We focus on what you can do right now to create a better life for yourself.
It is relevant to all types of trauma and/or addiction. For example, you may have survived traumas such as child abuse, combat, natural disasters, accidents, or violence. You may have addiction to substances, gambling, food, or other behavior. If you have both trauma and addiction issues, we address the link between the two—how common it is for the two to go together.
Seeking Safety has been successfully used for over 20 years across the gender spectrum and with people struggling with many different life issues including HIV/AIDS, homelessness, serious mental illness, and incarceration.
Who can join Seeking Safety?
WJCS and The LOFT are partnering to offer this specialized group for LGBTQA+ community members (minimum age 18). You can get a lot from participating, especially if you are open to new coping skills to improve your life. Seeking Safety assumes people will be at different stages of change in their substance use recovery. It is WJCS Mental Health Clinic's criteria that people cannot attend services if they appear to be under the influence of substances at the time of the service.
WJCS also offers general Seeking Safety groups for the entire community to join.
Does Seeking Safety work?
Seeking Safety is the most popular and scientifically studied counseling model for trauma and addiction. Research shows that it works for both trauma and addiction issues, is cost-effective, and very safe.
Is Seeking Safety culturally sensitive?
Yes. Seeking Safety has been implemented with diverse cultural and ethnic groups, who have consistently expressed strong satisfaction with it. It has also been translated into over 12 languages. Seeking Safety emphasizes adaptation to each person's needs.
What is the cost of participating in Seeking Safety?
This is a telehealth group lead by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and there is a fee to participate per session which may be covered by insurance. Some commercial insurance plans, all Medicaid and Medicaid managed care plans accepted, and self pay rates accepted. Click here for a list of insurances accepted by WJCS Mental Health Clinics.
Want to learn more?
Want to enroll in LGBTQA Seeking Safety?
Contact Bethania Camilo, Admitting Specialist for WJCS' Hartsdale Clinic, at (914) 949-7699, extension 4.
You can also direct questions to The LOFT's HelpLine at #914-948-2932 x13 or [email protected]