Counselling for Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Assault
Survivors who were sexually assaulted as children may experience a range of responses to the abuse that continue to affect them into their adult lives. These include:
- self blame, guilt and shame
- flashbacks, intrusive memories and/or nightmares about the abuse
- difficulty with expressing or controlling anger
- depression, low mood
- anxiety, fear, panic, hypervigilance (beings always on the alert)
- "over reacting" to situations
- feeling very isolated and "different" from everyone else
- relationship difficulties such as difficulties with intimacy, or feelings of anxiety and insecurity in close friendships
- self harming behaviours such as cutting
- thinking about dying, or actual suicide attempts
- alcohol and/or drug misuse ("numbing out")
- eating disorders
- feeling "spaced out", dissociation
These are all very normal responses to the trauma of child sexual assault. Survivors often seek sexual assault counselling because these responses have become problematic in their lives.
Sexual assault counselling provides an opportunity to talk to a counsellor who will listen, believe you, and not blame or judge you. We are trained to help you to work through the difficult memories and feelings caused by the child sexual assault, so that they no longer stand in the way of you achieving happiness and health, both as an individual and in your relationships.