Over the last year or so, I have been working with Dr. Claire Cunnington and several other people to create Flow, a film which aims to help health professionals to understand some of the ways in which working with patients who have experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA) can require extra care.
The film is based on interviews with people who have experienced CSA and I am very pleased to be part of a project which centres the views of those who have been through it.
It can be hard to talk about CSA experiences out loud, something I find often comes up in my work as a therapist. Within therapy it can take months — sometimes longer — for someone to be able to verbalise what happened to them. Memories can be incredibly painful, or sometimes they are fuzzy or unclear. This can make it difficult to begin to speak about traumas, particularly those which happened a long time ago.
The full film can be viewed here, or you can watch the trailer below. It does deal with some difficult themes, so please bear that in mind if you decide to watch it. A resource pack with further information can be downloaded from the film’s main page.
If you have been affected by any of the themes in the film, the following organisations might be helpful to contact:
- NAPAC: 0808 801 0331
- Rape crisis: 0808 802 9999
- Survivors’ trust: 0808 801 0818
- Male survivors’ partnership: 0808 800 5005
Therapy can also be helpful and this might be something your GP can help to arrange for you via the NHS. If you would prefer to find a private therapist, the UKCP, BACP and Counselling Directory all allow you to filter for therapists who specialise in working with people who have been sexually abused. Or, of course, you can also drop me a line to book a consultation session. The majority of my work, both within the NHS and in my private practice, has been with people who have experienced CSA.
Scarlett de Courcier 
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