About Us

The Rape & Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre (RSACC) was established in 1990 and was formally known as County Durham Rape Crisis. Centre services are unique in Darlington and County Durham in being a member of Rape Crisis and in providing free and confidential face to face counselling and telephone support to female survivors of rape, sexual abuse or domestic abuse. Our service is open to women and girls over the age of 13 regardless of whether the abuse suffered is recent or historic. Centre services are provided by women for women.

The Centre is a registered charity and is currently funded by The Northern Rock Foundation, Lloyds TSB, Equality & Human Rights Commission and Lankelly Chase.

As well as being an affiliated member of Rape Crisis England & Wales www.rapecrisis.org.uk the Centre is also an organizational member of The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, “As an Organisational Member of BACP we are bound by its Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy”.

At the Centre, our key objectives are:-

• To relieve the stress of women and girls who have suffered any form of sexual violence, abuse or harassment or domestic abuse.
• To provide a centre for women and girls needing support.
• To offer the space for women to self refer.
• To provide confidential face to face and telephone help line counselling support.
• To reduce real or perceived sense of isolation.
• To empower and promote self-help.
• To respect a women’s right to dignity and independence.
• To validate a women’s strength, experience and decision making processes.
• To offer an opportunity for women to tell their story and work through their thoughts, feelings, emotions, explore options and choices at a pace comfortable to them.
• To support women who choose to seek help of a more specialist nature.
• To provide information and effective signposting.
• To educate the public on issues surrounding sexual violence/abuse and domestic abuse.

Our Specialist Team
Our Counsellors and support workers provide non-directional support, from a woman centered perspective, that is avoidant of pathologising women’s responses, coping strategies, behavior or emotional distress and trauma. Our ethos is the belief that individual women have within themselves the capacity to effect change and make decisions that are both real and meaningful to them when supported appropriately. 

Face to face counselling is provided by specially trained and professionally qualified counsellors at Degree or Post-Graduate level.  Counselling is available by appointment; contact 01325 369933.

Our support-lines are manned by specially trained volunteers; Contact 01325 369933.

All Centre counsellors and support team have regular clinical supervision in line with BACP requirements. The Centre requires an ongoing commitment from its staff, counsellors and support workers to their professional development and endeavors to provide access to specialist and relevant training for all its workers.

The Centre does offer some counselling placements to those students who are in their final months of gaining a recognized professional counselling qualification.

The Centre is commited to working with a range of local agencies, across Darlington & Co Durham, and is a member of a number of multi-agency forum’s, steering and practitioner groups concerned with the prevention, protection and support of women and girls  experiencing sexual violence or domestic abuse. We positively encourage those individuals or agencies working with women or girls who may benefit from our service to get in touch.

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Copyright RSACC Darlington & County Durham  -  Charity Number 1026288  -  BACP Membership No 117049PO Box 106, Darlington, Co Durham, DL3 7YS

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Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre
Darlington and County Durham