Sexual Abuse Counselling
Remembering is not a requirement for healing nor is it the primary sign that you have experienced sexual abuse.
How EMDR Can Treat Sexual Abuse
Some adults remember the sexual abuse they survived as children and some adults don’t remember.
Remembering is not a requirement for healing nor is it the primary sign that you have experienced sexual abuse. It is very common to completely forget or repress memories of childhood sexual abuse.
When a child blames themself and feels shame about the abuse, he/she isolates and even splits off into a “good” part that functions in school and the world and a “bad” part that holds the memory of the abuse.
EMDR can help with allowing you to connect with the “bad” parts that hold onto the memories and the truth about what really happened and then to integrate the good and bad parts back together to feel more whole.
More About EMDR & Abuse
EMDR can also address memories stored in the body and help unravel the grooming and distorted thinking that results in the victim blaming themselves.
EMDR can address defense mechanisms like idealization, avoidance, or shame.
Many survivors are functioning in survival mode long after the abuse has ended. They experience high levels of anxiety, are hypervigilant and can frequently disassociate and leave their bodies even if they are in relatively safe situations in the present.
EMDR helps with unburdening the younger abused parts of the victim and working through and releasing these emotions so that they do not continue to be stored in the mind and body.
Survivors need to know that addressing these things is extremely difficult but comes with a lot of rewards. You don’t have to live a constricted, fear-filled, lonely adult life because of your childhood abuse.
Because of the isolation caused by having a “secret”, it is a necessary step in your healing, to work through the trauma with a therapist. Telling your story is integral in beginning to unravel the shame associated with being abused.
