Gudrun Frerichs, PhD

No Funding For Recovery Instead Buy Yourself Some Clothes

The government plans to introduce new legislation in November that enables victims to access financial support through a scheme financed by the offender levy. Although Victim Support, Sensible Sentencing Trust, and Rethinking Crime and Punishment welcome the initiative, service providers for sexual abuse recovery are dumbfounded by yet another absurd policies recently presented.

“Another piece-meal of legislation poorly thought through. Full of good intentions but lacking the guts to resolve a problem comprehensively”.

Victims of sexual crimes will be eligible for a grant of $250 to replace items of clothing after a sexual assault. An insulting and bizarre idea considering that ACC  will stop funding sexual abuse counselling for these victims unless the assault has driven them over the edge and into mental illness. 

March Against ACC-Cuts

From October 27th, survivors of sexual violence will only be eligible for ACC funded counselling if they are first diagnosed with a mental illness.

Firstly, you don’t need to have a mental illness to need a few counselling sessions after going through a traumatic and disempowering experience. Why should a survivor miss out on services because he/she is not considered to be victimised enough?

Secondly, it shouldn’t be necessary to prove a mental state before being allowed access to services. Mental health diagnosis is not an exact science, particularly not with just the short sessions given for a psychiatric assessment. How many survivors will even feel comfortable talking about their abuse with a stranger from ACC whose only interest is seeing whether they have to fork out the cash?

Petition: Stop the Proposed Changes to the ACC Sensitive Claims Scheme

My colleague Kyle MacDonald initiated a petition to stop the implementation of the proposed changes to the ACC scheme. Please, find more information about the changes further down on this blog. If you too feel passionate about maintaining opportunities for survivors of sexual abuse, we invite you to sign the petition as well. Every voice counts! Here is what Kyle wrote:

NZ Psychotherapist Association challenges ACC

Excerpts from NZAP feedback to ACC:

We continue to have serious concerns about the proposed pathway. 

 We urge ACC to stop commencement of the proposed pathway.  Further consultation and integration of discussion with providers needs to happen and there cannot be adequate consultation with ACC’s deadline looming.

To reiterate the main points of disagreement:

Super Survivor Mouse - Survivors of Sexual Abuse Fight Back!

The following cartoon was inspired by a survivor advocate challenging the representative of ACC during a meeting in Christchurch.

 

John Prince was so kind to send me this cartoon. You can see more of his paintings by going to this art website

Open Letter to Nick Smith, Minister for ACC

Please let me share with you a document that we have worked on for the last two weeks and that will be presented today to the Minister for ACC.

If you want to to make your voice count as well, write to your member of parliament.You can find the contact emails here! Or you write to the Dr. Peter Jansen, one of the chief medical advisers for ACC, Peter.Jansen@acc.co.nz. Tell them how your counselling experience was, how long it took for you, and how it has impacted on your life!

Here is the open letter the NZAP has sent to the Minister for ACC:

ACC or How To Eat An Elephant

ACC is changing their rules! A lot of counsellors/psychotherapists are not aware of what is in the pine-line and there are - to put it mildly - shock-waves running through the profession. Something needs to be done, and maybe now is the time to do it! 

Its great to see that Rape Crisis is planning another meeting with ACC. Auckland Sexual Abuse Help is also about to approach ACC management. However, it's a huge task and everybody's help is needed to 'eat this elephant'.

ACC - Fairy Tale Or Nightmare On Elm Street?

You can ask anybody: Having ACC funding counselling for survivors of sexual abuse has been in the past a blessing for many. Certainly for clients because where can you get counselling if not from a psychotherapist or a counsellor? Public Mental Health services have long waiting lists and don't provide counselling. The cost of private therapy is often way out of reach of survivors. Thanks to ACC many survivors have been able to turn their lives around and recover from the legacies of childhood sexual abuse.

Anger: The Emotion Needed For Survival

Anger is probably one of the most important emotions available to humans. Far back, at the dawn of mankind, anger was absolute necessary for the survival of our species. Whenever a hostile tribe or a Saber-Tooth Tiger would attack, our distant ancestors could rely on the emotion of anger to prepare them to either fight or take flight.

Anger signals to the brain that the survival of the self/ the person is under threat upon which chemicals and hormones were released to prepare the body for the needed action. The problem with anger is, however, that Saber-Tooth Tigers are extinct. Yet, feeling the rush of the chemicals released by anger modern (wo)man reacts with a fight or flight response designed to deal with prehistoric beasts in situations that are not life-threatening.

People get angry when another driver cuts in front of their car, when they have to wait at the supermarket check-out, when their child is not coming immediately when called, when dinner is not ready at the usual time, or when the expected pay-increase is not happening. It’s like shooting mice with cannons. Over the millennia (wo)men have forgotten or un-learnt to respond appropriately to low-grade infringements. Anger and the violent expression of anger has become a serious problem in relationships, in parenting, and in society.

 

How To Get ACC Funding For Sexual Abuse Counselling?

ACC is an insurance company owned by the state and operates in line with the principles of managed care as it is seen in the United States. Although the ACC act is clear about peoples’ entitlement for funding treatment to assist in the recovery from sexual abuse, ACC is a crown enterprise, which means, although it is owned by the New Zealand People/Government, it has to operate like a private company that has to make a profit. This is where it gets dicey and often quite painful for survivors of sexual abuse because any requests for funding are scrutinized to pay as little as possible. Also, approvals can take sometimes months and some people believe that this is a tactic to discourage claimants to pursue with their claim.