In 2007 a group of professional community therapists identified serious gaps in therapeutic services for survivors of all forms of abuse and trauma in the Kingston and surrounding rural, and small town area.

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• There has been a lack of therapy offered to male survivors of childhood abuse.

• Few agencies provide long-term therapy, the necessary treatment for survivors of severe forms of abuse, such as child prostitution and internet child pornography.

• Therapy is often not affordable for low-income survivors, nor accessible to rural survivors.

• There is a shortage of therapists trained in trauma and abuse work at the very time society is becoming more aware of the psychological damage caused by childhood abuses and experiences of trauma, specifically Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD.

• There was very little community education and very few local resources on the issues related to trauma and abuse.

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The Centre for Abuse and Trauma Therapy Inc. was organized to meet those needs.  The Centre is a non-profit, registered charity, incorporated in June 2007.  Our official opening was on November 1, 2007, and began to offer therapeutic services to clients. Initially, the Centre partnered with a number of community organizations and operated out of their locations in the Kingston area. These agencies included KAIROS, Kingston Lakeshore Lions Club, and Bridge House.

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Our inaugural conference on May 30, 2008 at St. Lawrence College entitled “The Effects of Trauma and Abuse in Our Community” was a huge success. Many regular conferences and workshops for our professional community have followed over the years.

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• These efforts allowed us to move into a small, two therapy room office at 234 Concession St. Suite 200 on June 1st 2008. Over the next 7 years the demand for our therapeutic services has grown rapidly. We are now referred to by most of the social work agencies and medical practices in town and surrounding areas. It became clear that we needed a larger space and more therapists to meet the overwhelming need.

• We moved our office down the hall to a larger space with six therapy rooms, staff areas, and a larger reception/admin space. Now that we have more space we are hiring and training more therapists.

• The Centre has held many successful educational conferences and workshops over the years to inform our community on issues related to trauma and abuse. This is an important aspect of our work and has been especially well received by the professionals in our area.