The Safe Place supports survivors in a variety of different ways. It is always our goal to meet the survivor where they are at and help them get where they want to go. Here is how we do that:
The SAFE place provides crisis counseling which is a short term confidential and goal focused service that ensures safety and overall stability. The goals of crisis counseling are to establish safety, increase stability and connect survivors to resources and long-term supports. At the SAFE Place, we work with students in crisis counseling around developing safety plans and learning effective coping skills for symptoms associated with sexual violence.
The SAFE Place educates survivors about their options, and assists survivors through the Title IX, medical or legal processes following an incident of sexual violence. The SAFE Place works with survivors to ensure they are receiving the supports they need and are entitled to. Additionally, the SAFE Place advocates for survivors on a campus wide level through community partnerships.
The SAFE Place works with each survivor to determine what their needs are and to connect them to services both on-campus and off-campus. The SAFE Place will vet services (whenever possible) to ensure they are appropriate and provides a warm handoff to the new service provider to minimize the need for the survivor to have to repeat their story.
Outreach strives to increase awareness around the issue of sexual violence while highlighting the supportive service that the SAFE Place offers. The SAFE Place works collaboratively to offer trainings with Health Promotion & Wellness and Equity Programs and Compliance to meet the requirements for mandatory Title IX training. The SAFE Place tables at campus-wide events on a limited basis.
If you would like to have The SAFE Place table at an event or present to your student organization, class, or department, please learn more about Outreach Requests and complete an Outreach Request Form.
The SAFE Place offers Support Groups, Workshops, and Community Spaces. The goal of these spaces is to allow those harmed by sexual violence to heal in community with others.
Groups offer confidential support spaces for survivors only. Before joining a group, a survivor will meet with a SAFE advocate for an intake to ensure the group is the right fit for the survivor.
Workshops offer spaces to learn new information and/or skills. They are open to any SF State community member including staff and faculty. For this reason, they are not considered confidently spaces.
Community Spaces offer places where survivors, their friends, and allies can come together to engage in conversations or activities focused on healing. Sometimes, these spaces are limited to current SF State students only, allowing students the opportunity to share experiences without having worries about their stories being reported by folks who are mandated to report sexual misconduct under the school policies. Other times, these spaces are open to staff and faculty as well. This is always made clear in the event description.
For details about upcoming Groups, Workshops, and Community Spaces and to sign up to attend, check out the Counseling and Psychological Services Groups and Workshops page.