Crime Victim Assistance (CVAP) Counselling

You might be here because

• Something was done to you and you have not been able to put it down
• You feel unsafe in places that used to be ordinary
• It happened to someone you love and you are carrying it too
• You witnessed something you cannot stop seeing
• You were told to move on and you have not been able to

None of that has to apply exactly. People often arrive unable to name what is wrong, and that is a perfectly good place to start from.

What the work looks like

Nothing here requires you to give a statement or recount more than you choose to. The work goes at the pace safety allows, which early on usually means steadying things before anything else. Where the crime included a sexual assault there is no time limit on applying to CVAP, so it is never too late to ask — and if you would rather talk it through before applying, VictimLinkBC is free, confidential and available in multiple languages.

Approaches most often used

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

  EMDR is a non-traditional psychotherapy used particularly for post-traumatic stress. Research has shown it effective at reducing PTSD symptoms and at resolving memories, so that a memory can be experienced as a point in the past rather than as something still active in the present.

  More on EMDR →

• Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy

  Mindfulness-based psychotherapy brings meditation techniques into therapy to cultivate warmth, compassion and self-awareness. Through focused attention and open monitoring you develop the ability to observe your own thoughts and feelings without judgment. You do not need to become a dedicated meditator for it to work.

  More on Mindfulness →

• Narrative Therapy

  Narrative therapy separates the person from the problem — you are not the anxiety, the anger or the thing that happened to you. It works on the story you have been given about yourself, often by someone else, and on recovering the parts of your own history that story left out. It is a compassionate fit where shame or self-blame is doing most of the damage.

  More on Narrative →

Further reading

• ICBC and funded counselling

  Counselling after a crime in BC: how the Crime Victim Assistance Program works

  The Crime Victim Assistance Program is a British Columbia government programme that can pay for counselling for victims of violent crime, and in some cases for immediate family members and witnesses. It runs on an application rather than a referral, and it is the least known funded route in the province.

• Fees and funding

  What counselling costs in British Columbia, and when someone else pays for it

  Counselling in BC is not covered by MSP, but it is not always paid out of pocket either. Extended health benefits, ICBC, WorkSafeBC and the Crime Victim Assistance Program each cover it under different rules. Here is how to work out which one applies to you before you book anything.