Sexual Abuse

If you have experienced sexual abuse or sexual assault at some point in your life, you are not alone. In Australia, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 20 men have experienced sexual violence. Many of these people don’t seek help and suffer with the trauma of it for much longer than they should. If you have experienced sexual abuse at any point, and the experience is continuing to impact on your life in a negative way, seeking help from someone who is highly trained in working through these issues with you is the first step to taking control of your life again.

Regardless of how long ago the abuse took place, it can often continue to have a negative impact on your emotions, wellbeing and relationships. It can affect your ability to experience and enjoy healthy relationships or your performance at work or school. In the long term, if left without help, it can contribute to a number of other mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, or substance abuse.

The psychologists at VCPS are highly trained in working together with the individual to build aspects of the perons’s life again in whatever ways they may need. This can be immediately after experiencing sexual violence or even years after the abuse has stopped.

Some of the assistance that you would receive from a practitioner at VCPS would include:

• Working through the memory of the trauma at your own pace to gradually reduce its emotional effect
• Help you to find acceptance in order to move on
• Educate you on the experience of others who have been through the same trauma to help normalise your responses and the emotions you have felt
• Release the feelings that have built up about the abuse
• Empower you to feel confident and able to take control of your life, so you can stop the experience from affecting your everyday living