Sexual Trauma Essay

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Physical wounds can heal but the mental wounds inflicted can cut deep and could take a long time to feel somewhat normal again. There are many psychological effects that survivors may experience the following their sexual assault such as shame, guilt, anxiety/depression. These feelings may be exacerbated and can lead to more harm for the victim if they do not receive support from loved ones, family, friends and authorities (Chivers-Wilson, 2017). The term survivor is a broad term that can cover all age groups. But those that are affected may deal with sexual dysfunction at some point in their life. College woman seem to be most at risk for potential exposure to sexual assault, a large survey was conducted, and it found that 28% of undergraduate women experienced an assault before or afterward upon entering college (Kelley and Gidycz, 2017). The purpose of the survey is to identify possible correlations between sexual trauma and difficulties in “normal” sexual functioning. Those that take care of the women afterward need to address a wide variety of PTSD symptoms (Kelley and …show more content…

Psychotherapy treatments EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) the patient/client thinks of past or present traumatic all the while trying to focus on a stimulus (auditory, tactile, or visual cues) this leads to reprocessing past/present trauma to try and decrease the victim’s anxiety revolving around the event (Chivers-Wilson, 2017). Group Therapy can be helpful to victims to show that they are not alone they can share experiences and it offers a safe and empathetic environment. Psychodynamic Therapy mainly focuses on the emotional conflicts that arise from such trauma especially if the victims of sexual assault experienced any abuse as they were growing up (Chivers-Wilson,

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