How can therapy help a male survivor?
Therapy, whether individual or group work, can be a healing opportunity for male survivors. In this therapeutic environment, a male survivor can explore their memories, thoughts and feelings around their sexual abuse. Often, in therapy, male survivors can come to understand on a deep level that they are not responsible for the abuse and that they have a right to feel the shame, pain, confusion, anger and other feelings that relate to their sexual abuse. It can also be a powerful opportunity to reattribute the abuse to the perpetrators and to hold the perpetrator wholly and totally responsible. It can also be a place to work on relationship and career issues that may or may not have been impacted by this trauma. A male survivor can use therapy to gain a new, more realistic and healthier sense of self and can consider and make choices that best suit them.
