October Program Agenda

Tiombe Prestonis a Feminist Therapist, educator, and activist with over 15 years of experience in the anti-violence against women movement and other social justice work.  In her private practice as a licensed psychotherapist, she provides individual and group therapy, curriculum and program development, clinical supervision, anti-oppression training, clinical training, and speaking engagements. She was the Director of Counseling Services for the Sexual Assault Crisis Agency, working at the rape crisis center for over 12 years, until its closure in 2009. Her specializations include feminist therapy, working with survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence and child sexual abuse, working with communities of color and people with disabilities, and other anti-oppression work. She is the Program Manager for the California Black Women’s Health Project, where she trains grassroots advocates and leads statewide policy initiatives on sexual violence prevention, mental health and reproductive justice. She is a Subject Matter Expert on Sexual Assault for the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) and teaches Women’s Studies at El Camino, Compton College in Compton, California.

Overview:‘Trauma Informed Care’ takes most of its underlying philosophy from grassroots, survivor-centered models in domestic violence, rape crisis and child abuse beginnings.  This presentation will discuss the positive impact of trauma-informed care in our agencies, advocacy, counseling and prevention education efforts. Through examples and interactive exercises, the core tenets of this type of service to abuse survivors will be outlined.  This philosophy encourages us to look at survivors’ ways of coping/survival with curiosity and respect, rather than judgment, and gives concrete ways to participate in empowering collaboration, rather than harmful power struggles with the survivors and families we serve. The presenter will offer ways to facilitate the path to healing that creates safety, consistency and choice for the survivor and avoids re-traumatization. Trauma informed care can help us become a community that witnesses another’s story with compassion and provides an individualistic response based on a survivor’s identity, circumstance and needs.