Next week we have our Spring Into The Light Women Survivors Group Psycho-Educational Course starting and we are very excited about the journey this group will take. The ten week topic based course has been running for over 30 years and we have had some excellent feedback from the women who have attended the group. The main aims of the course (as with all our services) is to
- Give information
- Break isolation
- Share experience
The breaking of isolation is the critical aspect to many of our group and workshop members. Many of our past group and workshop attendees have told us that meeting and sharing their experiences with other survivors has been so vital to their growth and recovery after often having experienced many years of feeling extremely lonely and isolated.
If you have experienced Sexual abuse or Sexual Violence you too may be feeling extremely lonely in your experiences. We would encourage you to reach out and find support with other Survivors and not carry this experience on your own which can increase feelings of shame and emotional pain.
If there is a service or organization that offers group support in your area we would recommend you consider trying to access this. If not then try opening up to a friend that you trust. If you are a bit worried about how to start the conversation these might help:
- I was assaulted when I was a young person and it is still a really confusing topic for me. I wondered if I talk, would you be able to listen to me?
- Sometime ago something bad happened to me, and I am still feeling afraid. I just need to hear myself say it out loud to someone who I trust.
- I really need your support after something I experienced some time ago. Is it okay if we just talk tonight?
Try and aim to reach out to one person that you trust in the next couple of weeks. The isolation and secretiveness around abuse can be very damaging – let’s let other people in to give us the support we deserve.
(Source based on some ideas from The Power of Love When Healing from Trauma December 26, 2012 / Sarah Ogden Trott www.everydayfeminism.com/2012/12/the-power-of-love-when-healing-from-trauma)
#dontisolateafterabuse #supportafterabuse