3. Immediate Support After Sexual Trauma

Jun 25, 2019

4 min read

Updated: Oct 18, 2023

The sun continues to shine from the other side of the clouds.

Seek Help

If you have experienced sexual trauma, I encourage you to seek help. Help can take many forms. This list includes a few ideas, but there are so many more out there. Here are 4 resources that can assist you if you are at the beginning of the healing process and unsure where to start. Seeking help in one, some, or all of these areas in combination with each other may be helpful, but only you can decide your course of action.

1. 911

If you are currently in danger, or need immediate help that first responders (paramedics, fire fighters, or police officers) can provide, you can call 911 to speak with a dispatcher and ask for assistance to be sent your way.

2. RAINN

You can speak with someone at any time, day or night, to receive immediate support related to what happened, regardless of if it recently happened or if it happened years ago. To talk with someone immediately, call The National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 (HOPE), which is run by RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) and staffed 24 hours a day. They offer free and confidential assistance to all callers. For more info, visit their website at https://www.rainn.org/

3. Victim's Advocate

**Trigger warning: In this section, I mention types of sexual trauma by name only. I do not write any explicit details.**

You can find a victim's advocate from the Victim Connect Resource Center to help you navigate future steps, such as legal action. To begin your search, you can go to https://victimconnect.org/get-help/connect-directory/ to find help in your area. You can use the search options to find victim's advocates who:

· identify as women, men, or elsewhere on the gender spectrum.

· specialize in particular crimes, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, hate crimes, human trafficking, kidnapping, stalking, or harassment.

· specialize in particular services, such as crime reporting, safety planning, victims’ rights, or legal services.

· are equipped to support members of particular communities, such as LGBTQ people, or victims with disabilities.

The Victim Connect resource page is affiliated with The National Center for Victims of Crime, and their website is http://victimsofcrime.org/home

4. Counseling

You can reach out to trained mental health practitioners who specialize in sexual trauma, for both immediate and long-term support. I'll write a lot more about this idea in a later post about professional support. If the thought of finding someone to talk to seems daunting, here are some things to keep in mind.

Prices can vary quite a bit, so receiving mental health support is not always cost prohibitive. There are some community mental health clinics that take Medicaid, or offer reduced price support. Some counselors offer sliding scale fees, which means that they charge prices based on income, so a person who earns a lot of money pays more than a person who earns less money. Other counselors offer discounts for purchasing multiple sessions in advance.

You don't have to work with the first counselor or therapist you meet. Many mental health practitioners offer initial consultations for a few minutes or half an hour, either for free or for a reduced rate, to provide potential clients an opportunity to meet and determine a good fit. It's ok to meet with several counselors and select one that you get a good feeling about or whom you can foresee being comfortable talking to. Regardless of if a counselor expresses interest in working with you, ask yourself if you feel interested in working with that practitioner. A functional counseling relationship requires that both of you feel comfortable. Check in with yourself after an initial meeting, and if you are picking up on any strong gut reactions, listen to them.

To some extent, most counselors work with patients who have experienced traumas. However, that does not necessarily imply that all counselors are well-versed in understanding the nature of sexual trauma, how in can impact people, and effective techniques for supporting people through the many layers of effective healing from it. I highly suggest asking specifically what sort of training, background, or focus, if any, a potential counselor has in supporting people with sexual trauma and/or PTSD. Some counselors have either a website or an online presence. If so, you may be able to read about their education, credentials, certifications, years of practice, and their approach to working with clients. If any of these pieces of information aren't clear, and you are interested in finding out more, I encourage asking.

To begin your search, you can visit https://www.psychologytoday.com/us to find counselors in your area. You can use the search options to find practitioners who:

· accept particular insurance coverage.

· speak particular languages.

· identify with particular faiths.

· identify as women or men.

· identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

· specialize in particular therapeutic styles, such as talk therapy, art therapy, or dance therapy.

· specialize in particular orientations to their therapy, such as:somatic (the connection between the body and the mind), strength-based (focused on resourcefulness), compassion focused (teaching self-compassion), culturally sensitive (understanding background, ethnicity, and belief systems), feminist (addressing challenges faced by women), or trauma focused (understanding the impact of trauma).

· are trained to offer particular therapeutic treatments designed to help people overcome trauma, such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) Tapping, or Brainspotting.

· specialize in particular topics, such as trauma & PTSD, domestic abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse, depression, anxiety, stress, grief, coping skills, family conflict, women's issues, or men's issues.