Victim Support Unit Stages Two-Day Counselling Seminar

A two-day Crime Victim Management Counselling Seminar, aimed at strengthening the capacity of communities to respond to the effects of crime, will get underway on Thursday (April 2) at the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Library on Tom Redcam Drive in Kingston.
The training seminar is being staged by the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Advisory Committee of the Victim Support Unit and will cater to approximately 50 Parish Advisory Committee members and other interested persons.
Chairman of the Advisory Committee Albert Edwards, told JIS News that the seminar will seek to develop the skills of the volunteer corps of the Victim Support Unit and community members, in areas such as basic counselling, grief counselling and counselling of the sexually traumatised.
“We recognise that when the skills in counselling within a community are built up, the effects of crime are minimised and the community strengthens,” he pointed out.
“The criminal justice process recognises that in modern times, the focus should not only be on punishment of offenders but on treatment and restoration of victims, so we are having a training session on counselling skills,” he added.
According to Mr. Edwards, the training seminar, which will be held from 2:00 p.m to 6:00 p.m tomorrow and Friday (April 3), promises to be highly interactive with experienced facilitators from the Victim Support Unit, who will be leading the training.
He explained that the training seminar will target “anyone who has a heart and wants to help others in need”
“The target audience is anybody.once you have a heart for seeing people, built up from the experience of having undergone some kind of trauma due to crime, then we welcome your participation,” he stated.
The Parish Advisory Committee is the executive arm of the Victim Support Programme in each parish. It is a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), which offers support and practical help to the Victim Support Unit.