In childhood, were your touched and it felt uncomfortable or weird? Did you endure sexual abuse and tell someone, but they didn’t believe your story? Is is hard to trust others and form relationships due to sexual abuse? Looking back, in teen and young adult years, did you experience rape, assault, or inappropriate touch in a way that lead you to develop high levels of anxiety? After realizing you are a survivor of sexual abuse, did you feel that the world became unsafe? Did you want to sleep all day, feel depression, feel self-blame, or even feel suicidal?
Wisdom Within Counseling specializes with survivors of for sexual abuse and trauma in counseling. To begin, book a phone consult today below.
Childhood sexual abuse survivors need specialized therapy for victims of sexual assault
In addition, child sexual abuse is very common in children. For example, childhood molestation is sexual contact with a child. Often times, the process of molesting is a secret between the abuser and child. Also, the abuser has a position of power so the child feels that they have to obey. Often, there is a grooming process of sexual abuse. So, children do not realize that they are in the grooming process. In sexual assault crimes, the victim never agreed to the touch.
Often times, when it comes to sexual assault, victims will have sadness, loss, anger, low self-esteem, and even drug and alcohol issues.
In addition, it is normal to be in a lot of emotional pain after rape, incest, or sexual assault. And, it is important to reach out for help from a specialized sexual assault therapist. Lastly, child centered play therapy such as at Wisdom Within Counseling can help your child getting clarity on their abuse and recover from it to live a healthy life.
Often times, after sexual abuse, children and adults will have bedwetting, anger, bad dreams, and not be able to talk about it directly.
Therefore, with children, we offer child centered play therapy to help with emotional expression. Essentially, child victims of sexual assault can use play therapy in counseling tough feelings into play. Also, child centered play therapy supports parenting skills around the trauma story. Often, once a parent learns that their child is a victim of sexual abuse and assault, they develop parental guilt. Essentially, therapy is a process of reminding that this present moment provide safety and trauma is a process of healing.
To begin, book a phone consult today for sexual abuse and trauma specialized counseling for PTSD tools and better self-esteem.
How do adult survivors of sexual benefit from counseling specialized for victims of sexual assault?
As well, talking about sex can be a very painful topic after sexually abuse. Therefore, your therapist can help you develop perspective and better self-worth. Sometimes, after experiencing sexual abuse, a young adult may dress more provocatively. Or, a teenager may get into drugs, alcoholic, and reckless, impulsive behaviors. Also, a teenager who has survived sexual abuse may attempt suicide, self harm, or drink alcohol in excess. Victims of sexual assault counseling help teach positive coping tools for releasing painful traumas. Essentially, these are numbing behaviors and a sign that your young adult is trying to push away these painful experiences from complex trauma.
To add, therapists who specialize with rape and sexual assault have extra, exceptional training to help victims recover.
Holistic victims of sexual assault counseling can be the safe place that you may not of ever had before. In addition, you can talk with your therapist about what you hope to achieve in terms of healthy boundaries versus feeling helpless and hopeless. Essentially, after surviving rape, incest, or abuse, it is important to find a therapist that specializes in complex trauma. Your therapist at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you recover from sexual assault, incest, and abuse by providing you holistic counseling. You can do art therapies, yoga therapies, music, and walking in nature outdoors as well as talking. And, when looking for victims of sexual assault counseling, your therapist here can recommend books to read.
To begin, book a phone consult today for sexual abuse and trauma specialized counseling to develop self-worth again.
Many times, sexual abuse survivors consider getting medical help, but something stops them in their mind.
Maybe, you feel like you have to protect your abuser. Sometimes, survivors are in love or care for their abuser. Or, you worry about what people think of you if the crime due to your report. There are many less reports of sexual assault than what takes place. But, counseling can help you overcome experiences of unwanted touch and sexual assault. It is important to know, that regardless of gender, sexuality, and age, sexual assault can occur to anyone.
As well, victims in childhood do not realize they are victims of sexual assault because of the grooming process.
Essentially, the grooming process makes a victim feel a sense of connection to their abuser. Maybe, your abuser gave you gifts and there was a long term relationship there. in some cases. But, some abusers are strangers. In addition, sexual assault victims must deal with the emotional and physical challenges for the rest of their lives. As well, rape, force sexual contact, can be from someone that is a stranger. Or, marital rape, or date rape can be with a person where one has a consensual relationship established.
How many types of sexual abuse and assault are there?
In general, sexual assault is uncomfortable, inappropriate touch that someone did not consent to. And, consent means verbally saying “yes” in advance of touch. Essentially, sexual violence and sexual assault can include rape, touch of the chest, vagina, anus, or mouth, as well as penetration. In addition, this can include touching, groping, and any forced acts such as kissing.
What is victims of sexual assault counseling?
As well, being overcoming sexual assault and rape leads to emotional triggers. A trigger could simply be someone hugging you or touching your elbow. Maybe, a trigger is a scent or smell, like perfume of your abuser. Simply put, any touch even from someone you trust, in a romantic relationship, can be a trigger. So, a trigger is a shadow of the past and the feeling sexually assault and touch all over again. As well, if you have a history of sexual assault or rape, you may now feel that sex is scary or frightening. Many times, after surviving sexual assault, a person will either be hyper sexual or not sexual at all.
Has the meaning of touch changed?
Maybe, you don’t want touch at all because you feel that sexual abusive touch was so negative. Memories from the past live on today. But, counseling can help with managing those flashback memories.
How does sexual abuse play a role in marriage counseling?
With couples, Wisdom Within Counseling helps people who want to understand how sexual abuse and sexual assault plays into their sex life. Often, people do not share their sexual assault story with their spouse in their marriage and relationship. A history of sexual abuse and rape plays into your sex life. And, sexual assault experiences impact how you express yourself sexually. At Wisdom Within Counseling, we help couples learn how to listen and be kind. So, through the healing and recovery process after sexual abuse and rape, couples can create a deeper connection.
Why is this specialty of victims of sexual assault counseling needed for reducing anxiety, panic, and PTSD flashbacks?
Also, your therapist can teach you grounding exercises for a complex post traumatic stress disorder such as using your five senses. Furthermore, grounding activities and centering exercises are very important for trauma survivors. Many times, people who have experiences of incest, abuse, and rape need help learning how to live in the present moment. From abuse, the mind flashes back. So, in a mental flashback, a person relive the sexual assault and sexual abuse. Also, a traumatic flashback can prevent someone from living in the present moment. Overall, PTSD flashbacks and panic attacks are major symptoms that sexual assault survivors have.
Therefore, from holistic counseling, you can learn mindfulness activities to overcome symptoms of abuse and trauma.
By doing a mindfulness exercise or mind-body therapy such as somatic experiencing, you can overcome the flashback and remind yourself that you have power. Many times, survivors feel powerless in the world even though they are outside of the abusive situation.
Therefore, mind body therapies and holistic mindfulness practices provide coping tools for victims of trauma.
Overall, sexual abuse can take many forms from child molestation to non-consensual sexual contact and rape.
Often times, many people who experience sexual abuse and assault learned that they don’t fit into the category of rape. So, they don’t report their sexual abuse. Therefore, education is a part of sexual assault counseling. Often times, people who have experiences of sexual abuse have trouble saying, “No.” Essentially, any form of forcible sexual contact or rape leaves lifelong challenges mentally for a person.
What are examples of abuse?
Sometimes, child molesters have a mask that they hide behind and, by the community, are in prestigious and professional roles. In addition, another example of non-consensual sexual abuse could be uncomfortable sexual touching. For some, this can include physical pain such as biting or pinching. In addition, even an attempted rape falls into the category of non-consensual sexual contact. In addition, when it comes to child molestation, a child is much less likely to fight back than an adult. Unfortunately, adults often do not believe children even if they do speak up about sexual abuse. Manytimes, the person the child reports as their abuser is in a medical field or prestigious career. To add, adults will demand sexual favors from a child and tell them that they will be punished if they do not comply.
So, if your child has experiences of sexual trauma, Wisdom Within Counseling specializes in child-centered play therapy for sexual trauma.
To begin, book a phone consult today for sexual abuse and trauma specialized counseling.
How does the Wisdom Within Counseling team of therapists support victims of sexual assault in recovery?
As well, other forms of non-contact sexual abuse such as revenge pornography. For instance, publishing nude photos of another person is a form of non-contact sexual abuse. And, having someone publish your nude photo on the Internet or having it go around the high school, is trauma. And, non-contact sexual abuse experiences can leads to suicidal thinking, suicide attempts, and self harm.
Non-contact sexual abuse
In addition, non-contact sexual abuse includes parents who have sex in front of their children. Essentially, non-contact sexual abuse also includes parents who make inappropriate comments that are highly sexual in front of their children. Also, anytime a child feels uncomfortable due to a sexually inappropriate comment, this is non-contact sexual abuse. Both boys and girls experience childhood sexual abuse.
How is therapy for victims of sexual assault different and more specialized?
As well, traditional talk therapy alone is not effective for healing after trauma (PTSD). And addition, healing from post traumatic stress disorder and relationship challenges from sexual abuse and assault are part of holistic counseling. In helping sexual assault survivors and rape victims, we offer a trauma focused holistic counseling.
Wisdom Within Counseling offers a safe place for victims to develop leadership and safety in the world again.
How does Wisdom Within Counseling help survivors of sexual assault in holistic therapy?
Therefore, for survivors of sexual assault and sexual abuse, we offer art therapy, yoga therapy, music, outdoor walk and talk sessions, and drama therapy.
How to respond to sexual abuse reports?
So, if someone has tells you that they have experiences of rape or sexually assault, one of the best things that you can do is to listen to their story. Frequently, the media tells victims of sexual assault and sexual abuse they are lying. Therefore, it is important to be a good listener. And, if you feel that they are lying, put that belief aside. In addition, make your friend who is a victim of sexual assault feel empowerment.
Often times, victims of sexual assault and sexual abuse blame themselves and feel guilty for this happening to them.
In addition, encourage your friend to go to regular, weekly counseling appointments. And, it is important to get the right fit therapist. Maybe, your friend needs encouragement to find a different therapist who specializes with victims of sexual assault and rape. Essentially, counseling can help your friend deal with their intense feelings and emotions around their sexual assault.
What is Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or C-PTSD when it comes to survivors of sexual assault in therapy?
Often times, feelings around sexual abuse are complex. In addition, survivors of sexual abuse and sexual assaults receive complex PTSD because of these intense emotions. So, working with a sexual assault specialist can help a survivor explore these different complicated and intense emotions. Manytimes, emotions range from loss, panic, suicidal thinking, self-blame, to anger.
Essentially, counseling can give you, as a survivor, a sense of power and clarity in your mental health.
Also, talking about sexual abuse can impact a whole family. Therefore, we offer mind-body therapies that allow closure after talking about sexual abuse. As well, our sexual assault experts find that cognitive behavioral therapy alone does not work for treating survivors of sexual assault. Many times, victims play small and people please. As well, a victims of sexual abuse may have codependent relationships. And, victims may still be talking to their abuser. In addition, victims of sexual abuse and they still believe that the abuse was their fault.
For healing from C-PTSD, you can pick from art therapies, yoga therapies, music therapies, and walking in nature.
So, by combining a variety of holistic and creative approaches, our team of sexual assault therapists help both men and women recover from abuse.
