Summary
Contents
Designed for adolescent survivors of sexual abuse who are in group or individual counselling and written in a style appropriate for this age group, this excellent resource provides information on how survivors may have been affected by abuse. The Survivor's Guide will also be valuable to counsellors, psychotherapists and others helping survivors. The author helps readers to stop blaming themselves and to let go of the image that survivors often have of themselves of being in some way 'bad' and therefore deserving of the abuse. Case histories are included throughout to illustrate concepts introduced by the author.
Relationships and Sexuality
Relationships and Sexuality
Being sexually abused can affect your relationships and sexuality in a lot of ways. This section tells about the ways abuse affects some of those relationships. It gives examples of the types of sexual relationships survivors tend to get into before they get help. It also covers how some survivors learn to use sex to get their needs met, needs such as self-esteem, attention, and power and control.
There are lots of reasons why former victims will often get into relationships and stay in relationships where they are abused and treated like dirt. A common pattern for former victims of abuse is explained in the following example. Amy was a part of a group of kids from her school who ...