Emotional Effects of Crime

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If you or a family member were a victim of abuse, neglect, or a violent crime, you or they may be experiencing a number of symptoms such as ....

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• Shock

• Numbness

• Denial

• Hyper-vigilance

• Anger or irritability

• Detachment or estrangement of others

• Memory loss or forgetfulness

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Sleeping disorders

• Recurring flashbacks or intrusive thoughts

 

Why Get Help?

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These symptoms, if left untreated, can continue to interfere with your normal functioning in different areas of you life for years to come.  Children are even more susceptible and can experience or develop later in life issues of depression, aggression, substance abuse, poor performance in school, antisocial behavior, and/or compulsions.

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How We Can Help?

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We provide free counseling to qualifying victims of a crime and their children through the California Victims Compensation Program. To qualify for assistance the crime must have reported to authorities and must have occurred within the last three years.  We assist you complete the necessary paperwork to apply for mental health services as well as to obtain relocation funds when necessary to help you cover some of the cost of moving to a new place.

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Note: You do not need to be a citizen or a legal resident to receive help.  See Evaluations for Immigration page for more information.

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We offer individual and family therapy, as well as support groups to help you deal with ....

Our therapists specialize in the treatment of ... to help you restore.

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Undocumented?

You do not need to be a citizen or a legal resident to receive help. It is not necessary to have legal immigration status to receive help.  The assistance funds do not come from taxes collected from citizens, but from the collection of fines and restitution payments from the offenders.  Additionally, undocumented immigrant who have cooperated with law enforcement and assisted in the prosecution of an offender may be rewarded with a Visa to remain in the country legally.  We can assist with this process as well, see our Evaluations for Immigration page for more information.

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Do All Crimes Qualify?

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In order to qualify for the Victim Compensation Program, the crime has to be of violent or abusive in nature.  Domestic violence, robbery, child abuse, physical / sexual abuse, .victim present.  Children who were present during the incident or who witness domestic violence in the home also qualify even if they were not the direct victim of the crime.

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Crimes that do not qualify are those in where the victim was not present when they were committed.  For example a house burglary when there was no one home when it occurred.  Or when there was no violence of threat of violence involved such as in a pick pocketing or a purse snatching crime. 

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In the event that you do not qualify under the Victims Compensation Program, we can still help.  We offer competitive and affordable rates, as well as custom modalities and session times to accommodate most budgets.

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How to Get Started?

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Give us a call at (818) 508-7344 to discuss you situation.  We will make a brief assessment of you case for which we will need some basic information such as the type of crime, the name of the victim(s), when, and where it occurred, as well as the disposition of the offender if you know it.  We will then schedule an appointment for you to come in and complete an application.

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For the day of the appointment we will ask you to bring the police report and any other documentation you may have regarding the incident.  It is okay If you don't have the full police report, we can help you request a copy. 

 

The application can take about 30 minutes to complete.  Once the paperwork is done, we will schedule you first meeting with one of our licensed therapists.  You can request to have a therapist who speaks Spanish or Farsi if you are more comfortable or fluent in one of these languages.

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The intake take session will take from 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on your needs.  We ask that if you will be bringing small children, to also bring someone responsible who can watch them while you are in session.  If the child will also be participating in therapy, we will try to accommodate both sessions at the same.  During this initial session, the therapist will conduct an in depth assessment.

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