5 Best Ways to Treat Sexually Abused Patients

Sexual abuse is any form of sexual violence, involving molestation, rape, non-consensual touching, or forced penetration.

According to a study, 16.1% of women and 9.6% of men in America have been sexually abused at some point.

Sexual abuse can happen to anyone, no matter your race, gender, religion, or whatever. You should take note that sexual abuse is not only about sexual pleasure— many people sexually abuse others to gain domination over them.

Importance of Sexual Abuse Treatment

The many effects of sexual abuse can weigh heavily on the victims. Even the ones who face such harassment from childhood still struggle to enter into a romantic relationship. You suffer effects like shame, fear, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, and Borderline personality disorders.

They can avoid all these if they seek help in the form of sexual abuse counseling immediately. Victims of sexual abuse need someone who they can talk to without judgment because keeping everything in their minds will cause lasting effects.

Here are the 5 best ways sexually abused people can get treated.

Find Out from Them What Happened

There’s no better way to treat someone who was abused sexually than by getting them to talk about it. It’s essential to be patient with them because of how delicate the situation is. Let the conversation flow naturally, so they can comfortably reveal what happened.

Use Therapy

Therapy is beneficial when helping people with experiences of sexual abuse. The best therapies for patients with a history of sexual abuse include:

Somatic Experiencing (SE)

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Trauma-Focused CBT

Transference Focused Psychotherapy

Mentalization Focuses Psychotherapy

Immediate therapy is usually the most effective because of its effects. According to a study, 13% of women who were raped attempted suicide. So, it’s important to act fast.

Listen to Them

It’s one thing to get sexually abused patients to open up about their experience and another thing to listen to them without judging them. When you can make them feel heard, you largely contribute to their healing process.

On the other hand, you should be careful when listening to the horror stories to avoid taking on the emotional trauma, because it’s possible. So, some steps to take to listen better and protect yourself from the trauma include:

Get therapy of your own

Have a safe space where you don’t think about work — It could be family, the gym, whatever.

Have a group of colleagues where you share the stories you’ve been hearing.

Talk to Them About Their Future Relationships

It is not uncommon for victims of sexual abuse to go into toxic relationships — most likely someone with abusive tendencies.

Put in effort on your end to ensure that they see themselves as deserving of love. This would make them attract similar people, thus creating a healthy environment for the patient.

Encourage the patient to come with someone they trust

Families may not be the most supportive people for the patient. Let the patient see that they can bring whoever they feel the most comfortable with. It could be a friend. You can interview the person separately to ensure that they have the patient’s best interest at heart. Please visit here for more details: https://www.intensivetherapyretreat.com

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