April is SAAM
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Thursdays are the one day a week that I venture out of Brooklyn, taking the subway one stop into Manhattan to run an auricular acupuncture group for survivors at an amazing organization @cvtcnyc ... it's also the one day a week that I get use needles in my role as an ADS - Acu Detox Specialist trained in NADA or 5NP (5 needle protocol).
I'm always amazed by the way these tiny needles help bring folks down into a parasympathetic state... sometimes even more quickly than massage TBH. Looking into the sharps container yesterday I was thinking about how each needle in this jumble of hundreds of needles could represent the statistical data for SA ... I'll leave the statistical reporting to orgs like @rainn and @nsvrc who have great resources on this... but suffice it to say the numbers are staggering.
@cvtcnyc provides free counseling, legal services, education and holistic support to survivors and training for clinical practitioners and volunteers.
Each week in the acupuncture group, we all get to settle into a quiet space, relax our nervous systems, and restore our energy to face the day (myself included!) It is one of my favorite moments of the week, seeing familiar faces and welcoming new ones in. 🌸
Want to get involved in supporting survivors ? Check out this link to find out more about training @cvtcnyc to become a volunteer crisis counselor, or attend their candlelight vigil this weekend .
Are you a survivor who is looking for a safe space for bodywork and a nervous system reset? @mamassage_brooklyn all of our therapists are trained in trauma informed care approaches. Recent studies show that survivor participants showed "significant improvement on all outcome measures, providing support for the efficacy of body therapy in recovery from sexual abuse." 🫶🏽
Stay tuned for acu-group wellness opportunities in our new room in the coming months... in the meantime, massage is a great support.
