Victim of violence or abuse

Violent acts can be a very frightening experiences, even witnessing a violent act can be distressing. You may be surprised by how strongly you are affected and you may be worried about being attacked again. You may find that you are having feelings of anxiety, panic or feeling disconnected from people and life.

You may feel that you have been in the set of a film and that the film is still running. You may also experience flash backs too. It can be very difficult to talk about having been hurt by violence, but most people find that it helps to talk to someone, in time these feelings should pass.

Symptoms of victim of violence

After experiencing or witnessing a violent act it is common for people to experience some of the following:

• Repressed anger
• Unexpected outbursts of anger, fear, guilt or sadness
• Fear and anxious thoughts or feelings
• Feelings of paranoia or untrusting
• Broken or interrupted sleep
• Feelings of being disconnected from friends, work or family

Help for victims of violence

Self-help

You can help yourself by speaking to friends, relatives or other professional services including your GP, minister or a helpline contact.

You may find or experience that friends and relatives are trying to support you, but they may avoid talking about the crime because they think it will upset you. You can take the first step, perhaps you do not want to bother them

Counselling and psychotherapy for victims of violence

Counselling and psychotherapy offers a chance to talk about how you are feeling, offering you reassure that your feelings are normal, and even healthy. Counselling can help you to deal with reactions to a distressing events. The sharing the often strong feelings that follow violence can help to reduce the length of time people feel distressed.

Your next steps are..

Click here to see our 3 step guide to start counselling and psychotherapy.

Reading Recommendations

If you would like to read more about counselling, then I recommend the following books:

TA Today

Ian Stewart, Vann Joines

£11 .99

This is a comprehensive introduction to Transactional Analysis. The book is well structured and is easily read, and covering the main areas of TA theory. A great feature of this book is the examples and exercises included.
Buy this book online now

Counselling for Toads

Robert de Board

£9.99

I love this book and many of my clients do too. This is an informative story about Toad on the road to recovery from 'depression'. Counselling for Toads provides an insight into the process counselling and psychotherapy, this book should be a companion to anyone that is having or thinking about counselling or psychotherapy.
Buy this book online now

Further information and support

The National Association for People Abused in Childhood

The Samaritans

NSPCC

Safeline

Womensaid

Action on Elder Abuse

Men's Advice Line

Refuge