The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Support Group (SASS), which will provide a safe space for students to get together and discuss their experiences with sexual assault, will begin its weekly sessions on Wednesday, Oct. 19. The topics of discussion will be chosen by the members and kept confidential, while Therapist/Sexual Assault Resource Coordinator Alysha Warren and Sexual Assault Resource Team (SART) Intern Maggie Cohen ’12 will facilitate the sessions.
“Although I am coordinating the group, it will follow a traditional support group model in that the members of the group determine its focus and run it on a weekly basis,” Warren said.
Warren’s position is new on campus and was created based on recommendations by the Sexual Violence Task Force, which is composed of students and administrators. She decided to form the SASS group based on desires of students to have a place for support.
Cohen has worked for three years with SART, an organization on campus including students and faculty administrators who are trained in sexual violence response. Cohen holds office hours every week to provide a place for students to talk, get support, and learn about resources available to them. SART has also held workshops, presentations, and worked with other student groups related to sexual health.
“The change about the support group was brought because we have the structure of having Alysha now,” Cohen said. “The person who had my position last year had more of a difficult time because there wasn’t a director.”
Warren thinks of this group as a starting point for future initiatives. She plans to put together a needs assessment in order to better understand the campus and student experiences to create programs that respond effectively. She would like to create different types of support groups, including psycho-educational support groups, therapy groups, and healthy relationship seminars. Psycho-educational support groups provide structure and focus on specific skills, while therapy groups focus on present emotions in a group setting. Warren hopes these groups will help normalize complex feelings.
“A lot of times after sexual assault, people have a lot of common responses, but in the moment it can feel like it’s just me who is still hyper-vigilant six months after an assault, or my anxiety is still present,” Warren said.
Warren and Cohen are both excited to start the new group. While Cohen has experience facilitating in general, she is currently researching the dynamics of how to be safe in emotional support group settings. Warren, who is more experienced in this field, thinks the group will be successful.
“In my experience, there are stages to groups and I think that every group sometimes has its challenges,” Warren said. “But what has always been really nice—and I’ve witnessed this with every group I’ve ever worked with—is the way that people really come together to support each other, and the learning and growth and healing that takes place.”
To join the support group, contact Alysha Warren at awarren@wesleyan.edu before Oct. 25 to schedule an intake appointment.