Services Street Talk provides

COUNSELLING
MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS
REFERRAL TO SPECIALIST SERVICES
MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENTS FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES
SPECIALIST TRAINING FOR ORGANISATIONS
SUPERVISION
RESEARCH

COUNSELLING

WHY IS COUNSELLING SO IMPORTANT?
Many of these women have a history of abuse, violence and loss which they have never had the opportunity to work on in a therapeutic context. The situation for many of these women is desperate. None of them is in this kind of prostitution from choice and most have lost sight of any other way of life because all their energy is spent on surviving on a day to day basis. If they are to stand any chance of breaking out of prostitution, counselling is an essential first step. It enables them to process the suffering they have experienced rather than remaining trapped by it and to regain sufficient self esteem to feel that they are worth better. At that point they can start to address their practical problems and make the first step towards a life of dignity and towards regaining control.

MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS
Many of this client group are not registered with a GP and are coping with undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. On request a woman can be provided with a mental health assessment which would be carried out by a clinical psychologist. This can help her to get the appropriate medical, social and legal help.

REFERRAL TO SPECIALIST SERVICES
Street Talk has a network of specialist agencies across the city to whom women with specific needs can be referred for the best help, when this is appropriate.

MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENTS FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES
Street Talk carries out mental and physical health needs assessments for street prostitutes for certain London boroughs.

• identify and count the population of women in that borough involved in street prostitution
• examine existing provision for the mental and physical health needs
• outline gaps in existing provision
• developing a strategy to meet the needs of the women

SPECIALIST TRAINING FOR OTHER ORGANISATIONS
Street Talk provides training sessions on the mental health problems which these women experience and provides guidelines for good practice.

CLINICAL SUPERVISION
It is a both demanding and stressful to work with this client group. It is important for anybody involved in ongoing work with women in these circumstances to have professional supervision. We are able to provide supervision on a sessional basis.

RESEARCH
As well as ongoing documentation of our own work Street Talk carries out specially commissioned research projects and evaluations.