ACCESS TO TREATMENT INITIATIVE

Our Access to Treatment Initiative, directed by Susannah Sheffer, highlights the barriers to mental health treatment facing family members of individuals who have been sentenced to death or executed and aims to work with the mental health community to reduce those barriers.

We provide educational presentations and training, produce written materials, match family members of individuals who have been sentenced to death or executed with clinicians who have completed our training, and provide ongoing consultation to clinicians. If you’re interested in the Access to Treatment Initiative’s services or trainings, email us at  treatment@texasafterviolence.org.

For Mental Health Professionals

We offer an hour-long introductory presentation and a three-session deeper dive training series, “Working in Clinical Settings with Family Members of Individuals Who Have Been Sentenced to Death or Executed,” at noon (US central time) on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the months of February, June, and October, and at other times by special arrangement.

The training assumes no prior knowledge about the death penalty and welcomes clinicians with a wide range of experience, from pre-graduate interns through clinical supervisors. We partner with the YWCA Greater Austin, Capital Area Counseling, and Live Oak Therapy Collective and welcome participants from a wide range of settings (including community mental health agencies and mental health divisions of criminal justice agencies, private practices, school counseling departments, residential and other youth programs).

Contact us to learn more and register for an upcoming training.

For family members of individuals who have been sentenced to death or executed

Having a family member on death row is hard. Losing a family member to execution is devastating. It can feel like there is no one who understands your feelings and how you are affected by this experience. Maybe you have thought about trying to seek help from a counselor or therapist but have worried that they would judge you or that they wouldn’t be familiar with what family members of individuals on death row go through and that you would have to do all the explaining and educating, rather than focusing on your own need for support. Now there is help available from licensed mental health professionals who have received training in working with family members of individuals who have been sentenced to death or executed. Read more.

How can therapy help? What will happen in a session? What if there are things I’m not ready to talk about? Read answers to these and other frequently asked questions here.

“Working with a therapist that TAVP connected me to was lifesaving for me. It made such a difference to work with someone who was familiar with the issue of the death penalty’s impact on family members. She really helped me slow down and focus on my own needs, my family, and my brother’s ten children. I am extremely grateful for this wonderful opportunity to receive counseling” – death row family member

Our Written Materials

The Death Penalty: An Overview for Mental Health Professionals

For mental health professionals interested in learning basic information about the death penalty, we have created an overview to address some common questions, point clinicians towards helpful resources, and highlight some intersections between the death penalty and the mental health community. Download the overview here.
Report: Nobody To Talk To: Barriers to Mental Health Treatment for Family Members of Individuals Sentenced to Death or Executed

This 2019 report summarizes the attention that the traumatic experience of family members of individuals who have been sentenced to death or executed has received over the years in scholarly and other contexts and presents the findings from TAVP’s recent series of interviews with such family members in Texas. Download the report here.
Children Who Are Impacted by a Family Member’s Death Sentence or Execution: Information for Mental Health Professionals

We collaborated with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) to publish this resource – to our knowledge, the first time that a site with such reach and visibility within the field of trauma studies has recognized this category of children and families who experience trauma. Access the resource here.

Outreach flyer for family members and FAQ about the therapy process

Download the flyer here.