GUELPH – Family Counselling and Support Services for Guelph-Wellington’s (FCSSGW) is calling its male trauma program a success.
The agency has found an 85% reduction of symptoms (distress) in participants while concurrently improving men’s overall functioning and decreasing their chance of negative mental health experiences and perpetration risk.
The results come from individual psychotherapy funded through Ontario Health West.
Using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) to address trauma, and the Impact of Events Scale to measure results, men reported an average of 59 distress units out of a total score of 88 units at their initial appointment.
Through the course of the program, the reported units reduced to an average score of eight distress units or an 85% reduction of symptoms.
“There are very few fully funded programs in existence for men who’ve experienced trauma,” said executive director Joanne Young Evans.
“Men who’ve been abused or who’ve witnessed abuse are more likely to have poorer mental health and may be at risk of experiencing, or perpetrating, abuse in adulthood.”
The program findings reveal that men are interested in addressing abuse issues when programming is available and available at no cost.
As well, therapy can improve men’s chances of overcoming trauma while improving their overall functioning and limiting negative mental health and criminal outcomes.
“Men need to be involved in the therapeutic process in order to end domestic violence,” concluded Young Evans.
“These positive results show that men can and want to heal from trauma events that put their futures, the futures of their families, and their mental health at risk.”
FCSSGW provides a range of individual and group services to children, youth, individuals, couples, families, and seniors and is LGBTQ+ friendly with safe, accessible storefront locations in Guelph, Fergus, and Mount Forest.
Visit www.FamilyService-Guelph.on.ca to find out more about the agency’s programs and services.
