The Quetzal Project

The Quetzal Project

At a glance

Causes

  • Black, asian and minority ethnic groups
  • Community safety / victim support / domestic violence
  • Counselling / advice
  • Local / community
  • Mental health
  • Women

Other details

Organisation type: 
Charity
Geographical remit: 
Local

Objectives

We provide counselling and support to female survivors of childhood sexual abuse in the areas of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Quetzal was the brainchild of Jennifer Anthony Black, beginning in 1989 as a self-help group and then developing into a more formal range of professional support services.  Sadly, Jennifer passed away in March 2009, but her vision remains.

Whilst Quetzal remains the only free counselling provision across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, we do request a donation based upon a flexible consideration of personal circumstances. However, no woman is ever turned away from our services if they are unable to do so.

Our Name – The Quetzal is a South American bird which was caught for its beautiful head and tail feathers and caged. Legend has it that it dies when caged. The support Quetzal has to offer helps to break down the bars of psychological cages for women who are recovering from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse.

Confidentiality – The charity is an organisational member of the BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy) and, as such, complies with the BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice.

Activities

To support women recovering from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse, Quetzal provides a range of services. These services are available to women aged 16 and over in Leicester City, County and Rutland.

  • Long term counselling – All of our counsellors have received specialist training to work on a long-term basis with clients suffering from trauma. Our long-term counselling service consists of low-cost counselling accessible to anyone who has been referred into our service and has had an assessment. Counselling will take place weekly, on the same day and time with the same counsellor for up to a year. 
  • Crisis counselling – This is short term counselling consisting of 6 sessions. Clients will be given the choice to access this service if we feel that the client is in crisis and will benefit from this service in the interim, whilst waiting for long-term therapy to begin.
  • Group Support – This consists of a closed group (by this we mean that group members stay the same over the duration of the group work) for up to 8 clients over a period of 12 weeks. The groups are facilitated by 2 counsellors who will have a structured timetable of what each session covers weekly and will provide the opportunity for feedback on the sessions each week. We recognise that this may not feel suitable for everyone, however, group work is an introduction to the therapy environment and will not be used to discuss your own personal experiences.
  • Single Session Therapy – This is a new CBT based service that is offered to clients that feel they will benefit from a one-off 90-minute session with a specialist trained therapist. This consists on a 30 minute preparation phone call so clients can determine with the counsellor what they would like to focus on in their 90 minute session, and if there’s anything they need to work on before coming for the session.

No current opportunities

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