Ask the Expert!

• Dr. Vanessa Guyton
  CEO/Executive Trainer, Consulting Experts & Associates

  Title: CEO/Executive Trainer
  Company/Organization: Consulting Experts & Associates
  Number of Years in Victim Advocacy: 5

  
  What initially brought you to victim advocacy?

  While serving in the military one of my Soldiers was sexually assaulted in her barracks room. I was her leader and friend who advocated on her behalf with our leadership.

  How did you select your specialty and/or career path within victim advocacy?

  After the experience with my Soldier, I still was not sure if victim advocacy was my intended career field. However, years later, I was recommended to become an Instructor for the Army’s Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Certification Course.

  What are some important lessons you’ve learned over your career?

  I have learned that I am never prepared, even when I think I am. There will always be a victim that you will meet or something that will occur during training that you didn’t expect. Additionally, that I will not always feel like I make a difference, but I must always remind myself that I do.

  What education, training or other experience would you recommend advocates seek?

  I recommend that advocates volunteer at their local centers, shelters, etc. to gain their most valuable experience. Additionally, attend every conference, webinar, and training that specializes in your field. While at these events, network and find a mentor who is willing to share their experience and give you career guidance. Facilitator training is an added bonus, especially if you are responsible for providing awareness and prevention training.

  What are you looking for in perspective hires?

  In my capacity as an Executive Trainer, during the interview process, I look for a bright smile, genuine care and concern for others, the ability to connect with people, and a desire to make a difference for victims.

  What is your best piece of advice for victim advocates?

  Always work towards becoming a subject matter expert and being the best advocate you can be. However, learning is a continuous process and there is always something more that you can learn. This includes keeping abreast of the latest laws, regulations, and training.

  Do you have a specific person, group, or routine that helps keep you grounded?

  I always pray before I give a presentation or speak with a victim and ask God to give me the words and wisdom to make a difference. I believe this increases my confidence and gives me peace. I also have a mentor who has been in the field for over 30 years.

• Colleen Phelan
  Victim Advocate & Courthouse Dog Handler

  Title: Victim Advocate & Courthouse Dog Handler
  Company/Organization: Pima County Attorney’s Office
  Number of Years in Victim Advocacy: 10

  What initially brought you to victim advocacy?

  After college, I was looking for volunteer opportunities and the only response I got was the DC Rape Crisis Center in Washington, DC. I started the 3 month training with very little idea of what advocacy was and ended with a passion for the work. It took 6 years to make the leap into fulltime work in advocacy but I’ve never looked back.

  How did you select your specialty and/or career path within victim advocacy?

  I realized quickly into my initial advocacy training that so many people have been impacted by sexual violence. I believe rape affects everyone whether as a primary or secondary survivor. As I have followed my career path from crisis work to a mix of crisis/court advocacy, my sense of hope for the victim/survivors continues to grow. The path of healing is a lifetime process but the strides my clients make in 1 or 2 years fills is inspiring and rejuvenating. I feel lucky to do this work.

  What are some important lessons you’ve learned over your career?

  1: Being wrong is one of the most helpful tools an advocate has working with someone. It indicates the victim/survivor feels safe enough to correct you and they direct the conversation where they need it to go.

  2: It is a privilege when victim/survivors allow us in to their lives. We must always honor that relationship.

  3: Boundaries are fundamental and we are responsible for maintaining healthy ones.

  What education, training or other experience would you recommend advocates seek?

  My time as a SARS (Sexual Assault Resource Service) advocate was when I really became a strong advocate. I was alone in the hospital setting and had to figure out each situation. I learned that flexibility and patience will get me through anything. It was those 8-12 hours on a call that taught me how to authentically share space with victims/survivors and their families.

  What are you looking for in perspective hires?

  I am really interested in people’s motivations for doing this work. What drew you to advocacy? What makes you effective? Why do you want to work with victims of crime? I want to understand those questions. Ultimately there isn’t a ‘right’ answer but everyone needs to know why advocacy is the field for them.

  What is your best piece of advice for victim advocates?

  1: It’s not about you. One key element to any helping relationship is when the victim/survivor is angry or happy or somewhere in between- those emotions are not about you.

  2: Take Care of yourself. No one else can do it for you. This work is the most gratifying and soul crushing you can do. Sometimes both emotions occur on the same day, even the same moment. Learn to take care of yourself so that you can do this work for the long haul. It can chew you up and spit you out if you don’t.

  Do you have a specific person, group, or routine that helps keep you grounded?

  I’m lucky enough to be a Courthouse Dog handler and Blake, my facility dog, is my ever present companion. He is a constant reminder to take care of myself and he lets me know when I’m not. When I need alone time I enjoy long hikes, crafting and reading everything from cheesy tween novels to classics. My daily routine includes a mental check-in about how I feel emotionally and physically along with acceptance of where I am at in the moment.

• John Dussich
  Professor Emeritus of Victimology and Criminology, California State University, Fresno

  Title: Professor Emeritus of Victimology and Criminology
  Company/Organization: California State University, Fresno
  Number of Years in Victim Advocacy: 42

  What initially brought you to victim advocacy?

  As a criminology Ph. D. student at Florida State University in 1973 working in the field of corrections, I realized that victims were being left out of the discussions and that the treatment of criminals was not matched with the need to also treat victims. It occurred to me that advocacy-ombudsmen units could be included within police departments to directly and immediately respond to victims offering them a range of needed services. I wrote a paper and presented it at the First International Symposium on Victimology in Jerusalem, Israel in 1973 which was very well received. Encouraged by this positive response I then followed it up by initiating a victim advocate program in the Florida state’s funding plan as part of a federal/state program (LEAA), and then nurtured a project to fruition at the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department which opened its doors January 1^st, 1974. This victim advocate model spread rapidly to other cities around the state and region.

  How did you select your specialty and/or career path within victim advocacy?

  With a BS degree in Clinical Psychology, an MS in Criminology and Corrections, four years as a military police officer and being in a Ph. D. program in Criminology, I had long been aware of the gapping void when it came to responding to victims. Once the Ft. Lauderdale model took root and then spread to other cities, I quickly realized a new profession had emerged. This is when the idea of forming a national organization took shape. At this stage victim advocacy was not a career path, it was a dream path.

  What are some important lessons you’ve learned over your career?

  Early on, I and the others working for crime victims, realized that the most often requested and easiest to provide service was simply basic information about why they had been targeted, what was their role in the process, what could they expect from the criminal justice system and how could they help themselves recover. To help victims achieve recovery requires that their needs remain at the center of the advocacy process with the support of a professional armed with counseling skills, wisdom, human warmth, empathy and the conviction that recovery is possible.

  What education, training or other experience would you recommend advocates seek?

  I would recommend that at the undergraduate level advocates take a blend of basic psychology, sociology, criminal justice and social work courses with a solid internship in a victim centered agency during their senior year. At the master’s level I think a future advocate must understand underlying theories, master fundamental counseling skills, develop managerial abilities and understand how to conduct program evaluations. At the training level, specific certifications should be obtained in dealing with child abuse, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, elder abuse, and working with marginalized persons. At the doctorate level the field of victimology needs college teachers and researchers to maintain the momentum of our discipline and to continue the flow of empirical facts for new policies and laws and to teach new generations of professional victim advocates.

  What is your best piece of advice for victim advocates?

  To help us be more effective in working with victims we must first get their trust and establish rapport with them, then we must find a way to understand them and enter their world, and finally we must speak to them from that perspective for the duration of our advocacy. Above all, we must individualize our services so that what we do with them honors their uniqueness and respects their journey.

  Do you have a specific person, group, or routine that helps keep you grounded?

  The person who helped me focus on service to humanity and with whom I identify was the Nobel Laureate German medical doctor, missionary, philosopher and musician Albert Schweitzer. His core expression which guided his life was “reverence for life.” Not only did his writings change the way I thought, but it changed the direction of my education from music to the social sciences, and helped me to focus on life (and victims) in the broader sense. To this day, that simple phrase touches the deepest recesses of my being and influences how I think and what I do.