The first couple weeks of my internship have been awesome! CONNECT to end Violence is a branch of Community Services on Marthas Vineyard. The office is located in Edgartown Massachusetts. CONNECT provides a free and confidential 24/7 hotline, counseling, and court advocacy. The majority of what I’ve done so far has been training because I needed a 60 hour training to become a Domestic Violence/ Rape Crisis Counselor. I also had to be trained for the hotline. Through training I had a chance to meet all the staff at CONNECT. I am so excited to be working with such an incredible group of woman. There are five staff members, all of whom are women in there 20’s and 30’s. It is cool to see women, only a little bit older than me, being such strong, empowering, leaders. Besides my training I have gone to the courthouse (pictured above) and met with clients to support them through obtaining restraining orders. Meeting with clients at court is one of my main internship responsibilities. This strongly connects to NCI’s mission because, through the empowerment model, as a counselor I am able to support and empower my clients to make whatever decision they feel is right. Helping survivors regain control and support them through tremendously difficult situations has been amazing!
I found this internship through a friend of mine who interned at CONNECT last summer. Using your network of friends, family, community members, etc. is a great way to find opportunities! I secured the internship through a phone interview. Overall it was a pretty easy process, having my background in SAPHE at Tulane definitely helped me in the application process.
I have five main expectations, or goals, for learning this summer. I hope to throughly learn and understand court procedures regarding restraining orders, domestic violence, and sexual assault. I want to feel comfortable and confident answering hotline calls from a wide range of callers. I want to respond to hotline callers and clients questions in a compassionate, professional, and educated way. I hope to do a lot of outreach to community members regarding domestic violence and sexual assault. Lastly, I hope to work with police and hospital staff to make clients feel safe.