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Listen
INTRODUCTION
This booklet has been written for people who often find themselves at the frontline working with, or likely to be working with, survivors of childhood sexual abuse. It aims to help staff to become better listeners but it is not asking frontline staff to become therapists. Survivors need their stories to be validated and heard and staff need to know how to respond to initial disclosures in a safe way but they also need to know how and when to refer on.
It offers important basic information, advice and good practice guidelines for working with male and female survivors. We hope it will help you feel more confident to raise the issue of sexual abuse with service users, where appropriate, and to support people who disclose. This booklet is not a stand-alone resource, but part of a programme of activities around child sexual abuse by health in mind and its partner organisations, including training for frontline workers, information, and research with sexual abuse survivors.
The information in this booklet will prove helpful to a wide range of people in the statutory and voluntary sectors, including staff and volunteers working in mental health, community projects, counselling and support services, health and social work services, homeless projects, addiction services, and older people's projects. It will also be useful to those working in criminal justice and children, young people's and families services, even where the impacts on others are paramount; see Appendix Three: Concerns about the safety of children and ongoing concerns about adults.
The booklet outlines what sexual abuse is and what its effects can be. It looks at barriers to survivors speaking out, and at common fears among staff and volunteers about raising the issue with users or responding to a disclosure. It says a bit about the attitudes and approaches which survivors value as helpful, and those they find unhelpful. It sets out some good practice points for broaching the topic, responding to disclosures and 'being with' survivors in a one-to-one setting. It also makes some points about wider issues of support planning. Finally, it gives contact details for some useful organisations, notes issues around limits of confidentiality and has a list of resources._
The booklet has been written primarily for people who are working with adult survivors. We believe that the general principles outlined here are also relevant for those working with children and young people. However, there are additional considerations for these workers, most notably child protection guidelines.
As the authors, we would very much welcome the development of materials for work with young people which integrates these principles with any constraints which are genuinely necessary in the interests of young people themselves.
Direct quotations from survivors in this booklet are taken from:
- Nelson, S. 2001. Beyond Trauma: Mental Health Care Needs of Women who Survived Childhood Sexual Abuse. Edinburgh: health in mind
- Nelson, S. 2004. Adult Male Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Needs Assessment: Lothian. Edinburgh, health in mind (obtainable directly from health in mind)
- Malone C. Farthing L. Marce L. (eds) 1996 . The Memory Bird: Survivors of Sexual Abuse. London, Virago
- Dale, P. 1999. Adults Abused as Children. London, Sage
This booklet has been reviewed and amended by a panel of mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists and representatives from adult survivors' groups, who are content with it.
We would like to thank Dr Margaret Hannah, Consultant in Public Health, for chairing the Review Group, Gregor Henderson, Director of the Scottish Government's National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing, and Lauren Murdoch, also of the Scottish Government, for their assistance in producing this booklet, Julie Dick of health in mind for her help compiling this resource, other staff of health in mind and the members of the Review Group, who have contributed much time and effort to reviewing the booklet, and the many people within the Scottish Government, who assisted in the development and production of this booklet. We would also like to acknowledge the late Bill Bennett's work, former Chief Executive of health in mind, including his helpful comments on early drafts of this booklet.
Sarah Nelson
Sue Hampson
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