Self-care retreat day offered by WIRC

MACOMB — Self-care is important for everyone’s mental and physical health, but it can be especially challenging for survivors of sexual assault.

For many survivors, it is difficult to fully relax and stop blaming themselves. That is why Western Illinois Regional Council-Community Action Agency (WIRC-CAA) Victim Services, a local nonprofit counseling agency, is hosting a Self-care Retreat Day for adult survivors of sexual assault.

The event will be hosted on Saturday, June 11, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Macomb, Illinois. To protect the privacy of participants, the exact meeting place will only be shared with those who call Victim Services to register. The retreat and all of the activities are free for survivors. Attendees can come and go as they please.

Counselors of Victim Services who specialize in helping sexual assault survivors will lead the activities and be available to anyone who wants to have a confidential conversation. Some of the day’s activities include mindfulness exercises, trauma-informed yoga, self-compassion workshops, and emotional support from counselors and fellow survivors.

To register for the event or learn more, call Victim Services’ hotline at (309) 837-5555 by Friday, June 10. Adult survivors of any ability, background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity are welcome.

WIRC-CAA Victim Services is a nonprofit agency based in Macomb, Illinois, that provides free and confidential crisis counseling, medical advocacy and legal advocacy to adult and child survivors of sexual violence. The agency’s service area includes Hancock, Henderson, McDonough, Knox, Fulton, and Warren counties in western Illinois. If you have experienced any form of sexual violence at any point in your life, you are welcome to call their free and confidential crisis hotline at 309-837-5555.

This article originally appeared on The McDonough County Voice: Regional council offering self-care retreat