About the Course
This is a psychoeducational and supportive therapy group for female survivors of sexual abuse, this ten week course will help you break out of secrecy, shame and unhealthy patterns of coping bringing you to a place of compassion, resilience and healing.
This group will be facilitated by male and female therapist. The group format is divided into two segments. The first half of each group are psychoeducational and is based on themes that emerge for survivors of sexual abuse. Common themes that emerge for survivors include the psychological, emotional and physical aspects of abuse. The ten week course will also address old ways for coping with abusive experiences such as compulsions and addiction
The second half of the group is experiential and gives participants the opportunity to talk about and receive support from the facilitators and group members. Participants will also be given a variety of interventions for dealing with shame, guilt , anxiety, anger, worry and PTSED, boundaries and interpersonal relationships to assist them in their journey towards healing. Participants wishing to engage in this psycho-educational group should be engaged or willing to engage with individual therapy as the content can bring up unresolved issues from the past that you may need support with.
Gerard has worked for over thirty years in the caring professions. He has worked as a Nurse, Social Care practitioner and a therapist. Gerard has vast experience working with male and female survivors of childhood sexual abuse and the severe effects that impact on all aspects of individual lives. During his experience as a therapist he has witnessed the impact that sexual abuse has on the lives of survivors. Sexual abuse affects the whole person from a Social, Emotional, Behavioural, Psychological and Spiritual perspective. This course will provide participants will strategies, interventions and techniques to enable participants to cope more effectively with life and enhance the healing process. Although clients’ stories differ the themes and patterns of abuse are similar. The reason why this course is specific to female survivors of sexual abuse is that the effects of abuse are similar yet different for the male and female survivor . Furthermore, having both genders in the same group may bring up issues of power trust and shame could emerge which can impede the healing process.
This course Offers psychoeducation interventions, strategies, exercises and games to assist you to settle into the group, build confidence and develop skills for self care and rebuild confidence. This as well as the support from one another can help the individual and the group to break through the confines of secrecy, shame and unhealthy patterns for coping and living life, to a place where they experience compassion, resilience and healing as they honour their own to experience and live life more fully on their terms
I felt heard, understood and relieved . I began to accept myself and I learned some tools for when the tough times came – Shauna, Dublin
When I arrived at the course my head was all over the place, I couldn’t look at people because I thought people could see right through me. By the end of the course . I was much more in control . I was spinning out of control any more. For the first time I felt more at home with myself – Maya, Kildare
I really loved the interventions. I felt angry and frightened a lot of the time and people would stay away from me. The isolation was terrible. Each week I got tools to help me if and when the demons arise. My friends are here for me now, not running from me. - Lauren, Kildare