What is Trauma?
The American Psychological Association describes trauma as “an emotional response to a terrible event such as an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea. While these feelings are normal, some people have difficulty moving on with their lives.”1
Many people have stopped watching the news because it makes them feel awful due to the heartbreaking and terrible things happening out there. We are constantly surrounded by traumas such as shootings, kidnapping, homicides and serial killers. Although those stories are on the news every day, there is one type of trauma that does not get to be shared on the media despite its high prevalence: SEXUAL ASSAULT. Unlike other types of trauma, sexual trauma survivors often carry the blame and shame, which make incredibly harder to report and further discourage them to seek any help. In any case, no matter what, it is never the survivor’s fault. It seems that the fact it isn’t talked about is another example or a parallel process that makes these events feel even more shameful to the victims. In other words, discussing it openly and regularly is essential if we want to help the survivors be heard and the community to be compassionate and aware of these painful experiences.
Sexual Assault and the Importance of Consent
Sexual assault refers to any sexual contact or behavior without one’s explicit consent. The forms of sexual assault include attempted rape, unwanted sexual touching/fondling, forced sexual activities, and rape (both stranger and acquaintance). In other words, the existence of one’s consent is the most important factor in distinguishing if an incident fits the criteria for sexual assault. If there was no explicit consent, then any sexual activity can be considered as sexual assault.
According to the RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network),2 every 98 seconds another American is sexually assaulted, and 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her life time. These statistics show how prevalent sexual assault is even though we do not see or hear much about it in our daily lives. Furthermore, out of every 1,000 sexual assaults, only 310 are reported to the police. From this information, we can infer that there are countless number of unreported sexual assault cases and deduce their prevalence is in our society.
The American Psychological Association further elaborates that “sexual abuse is unwanted sexual activity, with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims not able to give consent. Most victims and perpetrators know each other. The chance of experiencing sexual abuse from a stranger is significantly lower than from an acquaintance, which further complicates reporting the assault.
Immediate reactions to sexual abuse include shock, fear or disbelief. Long-term symptoms include anxiety, fear or post-traumatic stress disorder. While efforts to treat sex offenders are still a work-in-progress, psychological interventions for survivors – especially group therapy – appear effective.”1 This information tells us what sexual assault is, and it is hugely important that we all understand the definition and criteria. What it doesn’t and cannot tell us is what it is like for the survivors. That is something that each survivor needs to figure out on her, his, or their own.
Throughout their own healing process, the survivors can find peace within themselves, which begins by being able to take the blame off from oneself to accepting that the assault had happened, and seeking support from not only professionals but also from one’s loved ones. Since it is so easy for the survivors to believe that they are the reason that the assault has happened, it often leads them to suffer alone. In reality, nothing that they have done is wrong or caused the assault in any way. It is even possible that at this moment, YOUR LOVED ONE may go through something like this or YOU ARE GOING THROUGH IT ALONE. Group therapy provides an opportunity for the survivors to realize that they are not alone. Eventually, the survivors of trauma can find the capacity to overcome the pain, isolation and shame through the group process.
Group Therapy at WILA
At Wright Institute Los Angeles, we offer a group therapy called VOW.
VOW stands for Voices of Warriors and is a trauma-focused group for women who have experienced any type of sexual trauma or sexual assault(s). Many survivors, as they contemplate joining the group, might be thinking that you should not be sharing your secret with other people. That typically happens when you experience this traumatic event because it feels so shameful that it happened to you. Or sometimes, you may feel as if you put yourself into that situation thus, you do not deserve to be held, supported, loved.
The goal of group psychotherapy, especially a trauma-focused one, is to allow the survivors to recognize the patterns of denial, self-blaming, and silencing thoughts and/or beliefs by sharing their experiences within the group. This process can provide the survivors a healthy understanding of themselves, which in turn can allow them to live the lives that they truly deserve. What allows this transformation to happen in the group is a sense of connectedness. By sharing your own traumatic experiences and how it has affected your life, bonds are created among the members. With one another, you work can through the debilitating and unhealthy dynamics you have found yourself in following the assault.
In such a safe space, what doesn’t kill you can make you stronger. Acknowledging the trauma and confronting its aftermath are indeed terrifying. But, it is not impossible. As you face that fear, pain, shame, or whatever holds you back from getting the support that you need, your process of healing has already begun. However, it’s up to you, for better or worse. It is your choice. Bringing change and making yourself stronger require your commitment to yourself. In other words, the group is your chance to really talk about what the media or some of our society members won’t talk about. It’s your voice that you give consent to be expressed and a healing to happen.
If you wish your voice to be heard at VOW, please call (424) 371-5191 or visit our website for more information.
For those who need some support but are not ready to join a group, here is a link to a hotline serving survivors of sexual assault (National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800.656.HOPE).
#trauma #PTSD #post_traumatic_stress_disorder #sexual_trauma #sexual_assault #sexual_abuse
References:
1 https://www.apa.org/topics/trauma/index.html
2 https://www.rainn.org/statistics/scope-problem
