What Counselling Offers:
Having someone to listen and understand
A trained professional counsellor is someone who can listen well, who will be sensitive, sympathetic, accepting and understanding.
Recognising the impact of childhood sexual abuse
Counselling provides an opportunity to gain awareness and understanding of how your experiences have affected you as an adult. Sometimes the effects of sexual abuse are obvious and sometimes subtle, and can cause problems in later life.
Reducing the self-blame
Many adult survivors of sexual abuse have guilt feelings about what happened to them. This is because as children we naturally tend to take responsibility for everything that happens to us, even those things we have no control over. Perpetrators of sexual abuse often lead their victims to believe they are responsible.
Validating feelings
The child’s emotional reaction to her/his abuse often had no way of being heard or known. Counselling provides a safe environment for these reactions to be addressed.
Taking back control
The adult survivor of sexual abuse is likely to have grown up with little sense of control over her/his life or body. Counselling can assist people to take charge of their own lives and body.
Recognising strengths
Adult survivors often have a sense of powerlessness which is a reflection of their experiences in childhood. Through learning to identify and appreciate one’s strengths, these feelings can be diminished and replaced with a sense of purpose and personal power.
Developing support networks and resources
Survivors often report feeling alone and isolated in the world. Making contact with people who share a similar experience can be supportive and liberating.
