Support After Sexual Trauma for Young People Aged 5-25

Impact on Parents and Carer's

I am a qualified social worker and integrative therapist with over 9 years of specialist experience in supporting young people and their families impacted by sexual trauma. As a survivor/victim of sexual trauma myself, I have been on the journey towards healing and I am committed to helping children and young people on their unique path and supporting their parents and carers on that journey also. When a child or young person has been impacted by sexual trauma, it can feel frightening and confusing for both the young person and the adults who care for them. As a parent or carer, you may be experiencing a wide range of emotions. Some of these may be anger, guilt and shame or you may be feeling helpless and worried about doing or saying the wrong thing. At Creative Healing NI we recognise the importance of parents and carers in a child’s journey and therefore offer

practical advice, support and tools to all parents and carers. So that you can feel more confident in supporting the young person you are caring for.

Impact and Emotions on Young People

We understand that when children and young people have been impacted by sexual abuse, they may be experiencing a wide range of emotions. Some of these may be: Feeling angry, guilty, sad, frightened, ashamed, or embarrassed. We know it can be hard to find the words to express or communicate these thoughts and feelings. We therefore utilise various creative tools and techniques which can make the young person feel more comfortable.

What Can You Expect in Sessions

Welcome to Creative Healing Counselling Services

Sessions are child-centred and tailored to each child or young person’s needs. We understand how difficult it can be for children and young people to talk about their experiences or to put these into words. Young people respond extremely well when they can express themselves creatively in a safe space. Alongside talk therapy we therefore use various tools and techniques to make this process less frightening for the child such as:

Play, including puppets and role-play
Creative expression such as drawing and painting,
Sandplay therapy in which trauma experiences can be communicated through objects rather than verbally.
Storytelling to help explore and express themes and emotions
Psychoeducation to help children learn and understand how the issues are affecting them. Reducing feelings stigma and blame and enhancing their coping skills.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) for age 9 and over.
Traditional Talk Therapy

What Happens at Referral?

During the initial Referral, we will usually meet with the parents/carers or professional/s who are making the referral to gain further information and insight into the current situation and to ensure this is the right service for the child/young person.

We then meet with the child/young person, usually in their own environment initially, to introduce myself and to determine if the child or young person wishes to engage, as it is important that this is their choice.

During the assessment stage, we will then meet with the parents or carers to gain a thorough understanding and history of the family and child. This helps us to evaluate areas of concern, and together we will determine the support needs of the young person.

Dissociative Doll, parts Doll, Riley Dissociation Doll.

Assessment and Intervention for Social Service Referrals

Discover the Positive Change with Creative Healing Therapy

An assessment will initially be carried out over as many sessions as the child needs, usually this is between 4-12 sessions depending on the young persons needs. The purpose of this is to get to know the child and explore all areas of their life, to get a good understanding of their individual needs so that support can be tailored to them. We will complete an assessment report if required which considers the child’s developmental history, attachments, trauma symptoms and triggers and how this is currently impacting on the child/young person and family.

Following this an intervention plan will be developed in partnership with the child and family and any specific recommendations will be made regarding therapeutic intervention.