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An abuse survivor's guide to finding a therapist

Abuse is unacceptable in society, yet it happens. The stigma attached to abuse of all forms often means that human beings at the most vulnerable time of their lives find it hard to talk to family and friends because no-one wants to listen. It isn't that they are cold and heartless. It is just that the human side of friendship doesn't want to see that part of society, and really are not well equipped to cope with it. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, although the reason an abuse victim needs counseling from a therapist is because they are able to listen and not judge, whereas friends take sides and confuse the issue even more.

Abuse victims come in many different types and among these there are different therapists that cope with different aspects of abuse:

*Child abuse
*Bullying
*Rape
*Domestic abuse
*Abuse in the workplace

CHILD ABUSE

Many children never talk about the abuse they suffer as part of them trusts the adult who tells them that the secret is theirs and threatens reprisal if the abuse is discussed. At a vulnerable age, these children from a very young age are subjected to sexual cruelty, mental abuse and neglect, and without parental understanding will go on into adulthood carrying the baggage that their parents and the two people they should have been able to trust the most put in their lives.

It affects them as adults in many ways, though in a best case scenario will be recognized by one parent when the child is still a child and decides to seek professional help. Schools can be amazingly helpful with finding help and often it is the school themselves that have found that the child has problems in the first place. They will have contact with therapists that specialize in child abuse, or mental anguish and if stemmed at an early age, the child can go through their life with a better understanding and ability to cope.

Those that are illegally abused are extremely vulnerable and feel abused not only by the parent who physically abuses them, but by the parent that does nothing to help them. Here, therapists are available, although action is also necessary to stop the abuse at the root cause if the child is to be treated since treatment followed by more abuse just makes the whole process pointless.

Adults that were abused as children and who have survived can get counseling and here, the best way to find a suitable counselor is to ask potential therapists for a trial appointment to discuss in general what

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