When thinking about CSE (childhood sexual exploitation), it’s not hard to think of that cliched image of a young woman or girl handcuffed, tears streaming down her face and clearly trapped in a life of pain and suffering, and while this metaphor leaves me cringing and gritting my teeth, I cannot argue […]
Have you ever been to a conference or training day and listened to a trauma survivor speak from lived experience? (The chances are you have, REIGN were the speakers, and that’s how you’re reading this blog now. – Hello! Thanks for staying in touch.) The ‘lived-experience slot’ is a feature of many large and small […]
It can be a very stressful and disorientating time for survivors when their abuser dies. Whatever the circumstances surrounding the death, be it a pedophile grandfather finally passing from old age, or a mysterious apparent suicide in jail right before a high profile trial, it’s not likely to be easy on the victims they left […]
Sometimes talking to another survivor for 10 minutes can do you more good than sitting through ten months of therapy. I mean no disrespect to the counsellors I have worked with in my life, I’m grateful to the good ones, (not so much the shit ones). However, in the spirit of congruence, I’m here to […]
There are many jobs that require professionals to bear witness to the worst of humanity, this can be first hand on the front lines or secondarily through hearing accounts in courtrooms, therapists’ offices, multi-agency meetings, or sitting at a desk reading through paperwork. Vicarious trauma is a well-studied phenomenon where learning […]
