At some point, a self proclaimed genius, possibly well intended, decided that victim advocates needed to be licensed mental health professionals. He or she managed to start a trend and then a full-on paradigm shift.
It was a mistake. I cannot imagine whoever launched this idea knew the job. Victim Advocates are not Therapists. Therapists are not Victim Advocates.
Consider this common scenario:
A victim of domestic violence finally gets the courage to call the cops and cooperate with prosecution efforts. Due to the injuries she sustained and likelihood of continued violence, law enforcement officers obtain an emergency protective order. The victim has found another place to stay and wants to be out of the apartment she shared with her abuser before he posts bond. Time is limited. She must act fast, but the apartment manager refuses to let her out of the lease without severe financial consequences and damage to her credit.
Here’s what a therapist might do: help the victim process emotions, develop strategies for managing the additional stress created by the apartment manager’s decision, explore ways to engage in self-care. A therapist might provide resources (if she knows of them) and help the victim identify, create or strengthen her support network. This is all good stuff, by the way.
Here’s what an advocate would do: Call up that property manager and tell him that he’s violating the law, and unless he wants a legal mess and a PR nightmare, he best comply with [insert criminal/property code number and section here]. To be helpful, the advocate might hand deliver a copy of the law. Then the advocate would call the victim and give her the good news and assist her with the next steps, which would likely include applying for a longer-term protective order.
Therapists do invaluable work and are integral to a victim’s healing. A good therapist challenges her clients and serves as an accountability partner. They strive to empower their clients, which means they don’t pick up the phone and call apartment managers who are giving a victim a hard time. They have graduate degrees and have passed exams in order to provide a professional service, often long-term. They have strict ethical guidelines and must maintain firm boundaries. If they don’t, they can lose their license.
Victim Advocates were, and still are, doers. They raised a lot of hell during the victims’ rights movement, and occasionally they still do. They’ll scoff at boundaries. They had to or they never would’ve accomplished so much. Advocates include the folks who launched MADD from a kitchen table. Advocates fought the fight to give victims a waiting area separate from the defendant and his supporters during court proceedings. They are the reason victims and their loved ones have rights, and they are the ones whose job includes making sure those rights are indeed met. They show grit and an intolerance for bullshit; they are passionate and efficient. They are trained in crisis intervention and can practice emotional triage, but they are not and should not be therapists.
The agency I run uses a team approach, now considered old school. Our advocates do their thing, and the therapists do theirs. We have different people in each role, as it should be. If the therapist knows her client will benefit from stress management skills, she will offer some tips. And if she learns that the client’s stress comes from not knowing what the hell is going on with her case, she can point out that an advocate is right around the corner. Literally. That advocate will get on the horn with the DA’s office to remind them that a victim has the right to be informed. She’ll get updates on the case and provide them to the victim. A good therapist and a good victim advocate make a wonderful team that provides the best service to a victim on her journey to being a true survivor.
Victim Advocates are fighters, and perhaps it’s time for them to reclaim their place at the table — the table they built.
D.W. Dobbs 