Christian Counseling and Working through Sexual Abuse

To study psychological trauma is to come face to face both with human vulnerability in the natural world and with the capacity for evil in human nature.

Referenced from Judith Herman in Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

Often times, when a woman struggles with issues of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, and other personality disorders, it is not uncommon for her to receive help from a physician in the form of medication. While this approach might help, it is important to recognize that these are merely symptoms of a bigger issue, and often times counseling provides a better long-term solution to the symptoms experienced.

In the case of sexual abuse, these symptoms will continue to surface until the abuse is brought to the light and a plan of action is set in motion to work through the recovery process. Sexual abuse is such a delicate and vulnerable issue, that finding a trained professional that can help offer solutions, insight, and establish goals for recovery is important.

Recovery necessitates the right setting and atmosphere. Christian counseling can offers the opportunity to address the primary stages of recovery:

1. Establish Safety

A counselor will provide a safe place for a victim to open up and share the fears, frustrations, and trauma of the sexual abuse that took place. A counselor will come alongside the victim and allow their time together to become a sanctuary where sharing becomes natural and healing.

2. Reconstruct the Trauma Story

As difficult as it is. A counselor will help the victim revisit and reconstruct the trauma story in the confinements of the safe place already established. In this safe place, a victim is able to explore and feel the different emotions that took place during the abuse. It is not uncommon for victims to learn new insights about the attack and their feelings.

3. Restoring the Heart

Once the abuse story is out in the open, and all the different fears and emotions have been addressed, the process to restore the heart continues on, offering recovery and even freedom from the bonds of sexual abuse. The hurt, pain, and memories that once crushed the victim, become part of a painful past, but a past from which one has fully recovered and attained freedom from.

A counselor will help the victim reconnect the pieces of the puzzle of their abuse. Once the picture is complete, one can look at that past and bring to light how that past affects the present and recognize the symptoms of the abuse.

One of the greatest gifts that Christian counseling has to offer victims of sexual abuse is joining them as a witness of their suffering, and by building an alliance of trust that affirms and protects the victim.

Victims of sexual abuse often feel alone. Is there anyone that I can talk to? Would anyone really understand? Will someone actually be able to meet me where I am and not just label me as “depressed”?

Christian counseling offers that safe place, that understanding, and that support to tackle the trauma of the abuse.

If you are a victim of sexual abuse, you do not have to continue to feel alone. You do not have to carry the many labels that are often symptoms of the trauma that you had to go through. There is hope for you; there is a chance for a different way of living. Do not hesitate to ask for help. As a Christian counselor, it will be my honor to come along you side and help you through this difficult journey.

Images
cc: freedigitalphotos.net – “3d Character and Puzzles” by cooldesign and “Portrait of Sad Pretty Girl” by anankkml