If you have experienced abuse, you may be reading this because you are trying to make sense of something that happened, or because you want to understand whether therapy could help. Whatever has brought you here, you do not need to have everything figured out before speaking to someone.
What is abuse?
Abuse takes many forms. It can be physical: acts of violence or harm. It can be sexual: any unwanted sexual contact or behaviour, regardless of the relationship between those involved. It can be emotional or psychological: a persistent pattern of behaviour intended to control, demean, or undermine. Abuse can happen within families, partnerships, workplaces, or other relationships, and it can be a single incident or a pattern that extends over many years.
If you are uncertain whether what you experienced counts as abuse, that uncertainty is itself a very common response. Part of what therapy can offer is a space to find language for what has happened, at your own pace.
How survivors of abuse are affected
No two people respond to abuse in the same way. Some carry their experience silently for years. Others find that effects surface through anxiety, depression, intrusive memories, difficulty trusting others, or problems in close relationships. Some survivors feel numb or disconnected from themselves. Others are acutely sensitive to certain situations or triggers. There is no right or wrong response to an experience of abuse.
How therapy can help
Working through experiences of abuse with a skilled therapist can help you make sense of your responses, develop a more settled sense of yourself, and begin to separate what happened to you from who you are. Therapy is not about revisiting difficult material unnecessarily. It is about processing what needs to be processed, at a pace that feels safe and manageable.
At Inner Space, our therapists are experienced in working with survivors of abuse, including those for whom speaking about their experiences feels very difficult. Sessions are completely confidential and entirely without judgement. We work with adults, young people, and children from age 7.
Further support
If you are in immediate danger, please call 999. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is available 24 hours a day on 0808 2000 247. Samaritans can be reached on 116 123 at any time. NAPAC (National Association for People Abused in Childhood) provides specialist support on 0808 801 0331.