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CASA House

Counselling and advocacy

We provide ongoing, individual counselling and advocacy. Victim survivors can access up to 12 individual counselling sessions with a counsellor advocate. This service is available during business hours.

Phone support is available 24/7. Call 1800 806 292

Counselling

Our counsellors are trauma-informed and use an intersectional feminist framework.  

We also use a range of counselling approaches to:

  • work with you to better understand the impacts of sexual violence
  • support you in making sense of your experiences.

We will work with you to reach your goals and provide support in a non-judgmental way.

Each counselling appointment lasts up to 1 hour. We offer appointments in person or via video call, during business hours, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Our services are private and confidential

Find more information about how we work: About us.

A counselling room with three green seats and couches around a table. Room decor includes a plant, lamp and cushions.

A counselling room at CASA House

Advocacy

In some cases our counsellors can also provide advocacy. This means they support you in working with other people or organisations.

Examples of advocacy include: 

  • support letters   
  • referrals to other organisations  
  • writing Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal (VOCAT) reports 
  • speaking with police and the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team, either together or on your behalf 
  • making sure other people and organisations know about your rights.

Your counsellor advocate will speak with you about what advocacy options we can provide for you.

How to access 

If you would like to access counselling at CASA House, please contact us

When you call us for the first time, we will ask you to give us some information about why you are calling. You can let us know if you would like brief counselling support via phone, ongoing counselling or both.

If we agree ongoing counselling will meet your support needs, we will schedule an intake appointment. To do this, we will ask you for your name, address and other demographic details.

Intake appointments

Intake appointments help us understand a person’s situation and needs. We can then work together on a plan for the right support.

What we might ask about in an intake appointment:
  • your current situation  
  • reasons for contacting CASA House  
  • how your experiences have impacted you  
  • support people or professionals in your network  
  • your hopes and goals for counselling 
  • risks to your safety and wellbeing.

We will not ask you to talk in detail about traumatic experiences.  

An intake appointment takes up to an hour. If we agree ongoing counselling will meet your support needs, we can add you to our waitlist.

Social script for your intake appointment

Our social script can help prepare you for your intake appointment. It is information about what the appointment will be like in easy English. 

Waiting list

There is a wait list for accessing ongoing counselling at CASA House. Wait times can differ. To find out how long the current wait time is, please contact us.

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CASA House acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work, the Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation. We recognise their continuing connection to, and care for, land and waters. We acknowledge this land was stolen, and that sovereignty was never ceded. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present.