Melissa Philbrook is the newest member of the SSFS executive team, leading our Building Resilience in Children (BRIC) Project but brings with her a wealth of experience in working with families dealing with complex trauma. She holds a Masters of Social Work, and leads a team of highly qualified social workers and case managers, who work from a trauma informed perspective to sensitively deliver core support to families with young children who have been impacted by domestic violence.

The BRIC Program is designed to provide safe caregivers with knowledge, strategies and techniques to respond to their children and rebuild secure family attachments in the context of post separation domestic violence.

Melissa is excited to work with the support of the SSFS team, saying that the role allows her to make a difference in the community by helping mothers heal from their terrible experiences, and giving them hope that their overwhelming circumstances can be changed to lead fulfilling lives with strong and secure connections with their children. 

I thoroughly enjoy working with the families who attend our program, hearing their feedback that something I said has made an impact and has positively changed how they see themselves or their children, or how they parent their kids. I love the therapeutic feel in the way that we run the groups which makes me feel relaxed and helps the flow of the group process and feels like a safe place to talk about heavy stuff. I especially enjoy seeing the women flourish and become friends and support each other throughout their time with the program.

To find out more about the BRIC Project, visit our page

BRIC Project

To support this important frontline work, you can donate to SSFS, which will allow more families in need to receive this life-changing support.

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