24 Hr Crisis Line
Counseling Services
Who We Serve
Our Voice provides free, short-term counseling for people impacted by sexual violence and human trafficking. Services are available in English and Spanish for anyone age thirteen and older who lives in Buncombe County. This includes people who directly experienced harm and those affected as loved ones or supporters. Services are open to people of all genders, backgrounds, immigration statuses, and income levels.
Why Counseling Matters
Sexual violence can affect a person’s nervous system, emotional well-being, relationships, and sense of safety. Without support, these impacts can develop into anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress. Counseling creates a confidential, nonjudgmental space where people are heard, validated, and supported at their own pace. Therapists assist clients in understanding trauma responses, managing triggers or intrusive memories, practicing coping skills, and reconnecting with personal strengths.
What Counseling Looks Like
Our Voice offers up to sixteen individual counseling sessions, each typically lasting forty-five to sixty minutes. Counselors do not pressure clients to share details before they are ready; survivors guide the pace and content of their sessions.
In addition to individual therapy, Our Voice sometimes offers support groups. These may be process groups, psychoeducational groups, arts-based groups, or skills-focused groups, and have been offered in both English and Spanish. Group participation does not count toward the sixteen-session limit.
Who Provides Counseling
Services are delivered by licensed clinicians such as LCMHCs and LCSWs, as well as graduate-level counseling and social work trainees. All therapists participate in regular clinical supervision to ensure high-quality, ethical, trauma-informed care.
Confidentiality and Consent
Confidentiality is a core part of counseling, with information kept private except in rare situations involving safety concerns or when supervision is required. If someone knows certain staff members personally, Our Voice will make every effort to assign a therapist who can maintain comfort and appropriate boundaries.
For individuals under eighteen, parental or guardian consent is required for licensed therapy. Minors can still access non-clinical support from staff without needing consent.
Accessing Counseling
To begin services, individuals call Our Voice to discuss counseling and be added to the waitlist. Because demand is high, there may be a wait before a therapist becomes available. If someone is experiencing a mental-health crisis while waiting, they are encouraged to contact emergency services or Mobile Crisis for immediate help.
Expanded and Community-Based Services
Our Voice has expanded its clinical program to reach people in a range of settings. The team now provides individual counseling in the Buncombe County Detention Center and facilitates support groups in shelters, at the Western Correctional Center for Women, in programs serving people experiencing homelessness, and in additional community locations throughout Buncombe County.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can receive therapy at Our Voice?
Our Voice offers short-term therapy, in English or Spanish, to survivors to help them heal from experiences of sexual violence. This therapy is available to residents of Buncombe County, ages 13 and up, regardless of gender identity, ethnicity, socio-economic status, religion, or immigration status. Therapy is available for primary survivors as well as their loved ones (AKA secondary survivors).
What if I do not live in Buncombe County?
We can help survivors who reside in NC find sexual violence-related therapy in their home counties. Survivors living outside of NC should contact RAINN (1-800-656-4673) for resources in their own state.
What if 16 sessions are not enough?
Many survivors of sexual violence need more than 16 sessions of therapy. This if usually the case if there was more than one incident of sexual violence, if it occurred when the survivor was a child, or if the violence contributed to a mental health diagnosis that needs attention. Due to capacity limitations, and high demand for therapy, Our Voice therapists cannot offer more than 16 sessions, but they can help survivors explore other mental health resources available.
Will I be given a diagnosis when I get therapy?
Not at Our VOICE. We understand that trauma can mobilize protective responses in the body, heart, and brain, some of which can qualify an individual for a mental health diagnosis. However, at Our VOICE we don’t pathologize a survivor for their response to crimes that happened to them. We focus, instead, on supporting survivors in their healing from trauma, not on treating a diagnosis.
With this being said, we can refer out to someone who can assess clients to see if they do qualify for a diagnosis. Some survivors need or want a diagnosis for documentation purposes. For example, someone seeking to have their pet designated an “emotional support animal” would need to have a mental health practitioner provide a diagnosis, assess the animal, and write up a treatment plan that testifies to the role that animal plays in the treatment of the diagnosis. Some survivors need a diagnosis to help clarify and pay for treatment. For example, a survivor who is experiencing extreme disruptions to daily living may need a treatment plan tailored to their specific diagnosis. Insurance will only pay for therapy that is targeted at treating a specific diagnosis.
Do you offer groups?
There are facilitative factors in groups that go beyond what individual therapy can offer. Many survivors find healing in knowing that they are not alone, in connecting with other survivors, seeing hope in those who are further along the healing journey, and offering hope to others in turn. Depending on therapist capacity and client interest, Our VOICE therapists offer a variety of different groups (not all groups are offered at all times). In the past, we have offered process (talking) groups, psychoeducational groups, visual arts groups, music therapy groups, and DBT groups. We have offered groups in Spanish and English, and groups based on age, gender, or type of trauma.
All groups require orientation and screening. Some also require that clients be concurrently enrolled in individual counseling. Please talk with a therapist about what types of groups are offered at this time and what groups will be offered in the future.
I am under age 18. Can I get therapy without telling my parents?
No. Minors can receive support from other Our VOICE staff, but parental consent is required to receive therapy from a licensed mental health clinician or from someone pursuing licensure in mental health.
If you are interested in any services or have further questions, please call Our Voice at (828) 252-0562.
If you need immediate assistance, please call our 24-hour crisis line at (828) 255-7576.