Victims of Crime

Supporting Victims – Empowering Survivors 

Whilst funds are available, we are able to offer free counselling to anyone whose quality of life has been affected by a crime, past or present, either directly as the victim, or by a loved one’s experience of being a victim.

Families and friends often experience a ‘ripple effect’ as they are observing a surviving loved one’s pain going through the aftermath of being a victim of a crime. This is often referred to as vicarious trauma, where we potentially take on another’s ordeal and empathise with the other, as well as dealing with one’s own emotions.

Court cases are often an ordeal and although your experience may not have reached the courtroom, it may have been non-physical abuse, e.g. experiencing psychological and verbal abuse, anti-social behaviour, theft, stalking; you may be left with a sense of broken boundaries and feeling violated.

Victim counselling will focus less on the level of the crime and more on the effect it has on the person’s experience.

In March 2015 the Phoenix Counselling Practice was awarded a grant by the Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore, who said:

“I am delighted to support the excellent work of the Raedan Trust and have allocated a £25,000 victim’s services grant to the Trust to deliver counselling to vulnerable victims of crime.

As SPCC, supporting victims is a key responsibility and it is a major element of my Police and Crime Plan. Keeping victims at the forefront of everything we do is essential and I am pleased to be able to support Phoenix Counselling Practice to provide this tailored counselling, which is extremely important to help victims recover and move on with their lives.”