RECOVERY & HEALING

We understand the struggles male survivors face 

Many survivors experience similar impacts from the abuse. These can include anxiety, depression, suicidality, feelings of worthlessness, shame, anger and self-blame as well as struggles with trust, intimacy and other relationship problems, identity issues and addictions and clashes with authorities. Male survivors also face some unique impacts. Some of these arise from the expectations about men in our society.

We believe that your survival is testament to your resilience

  • We provide connections with others who have walked a similar path and focus on the way forward to recovery and growth.
  • We provide individual support to you and your family and supporters.
  • SAMSN’s Eight-week Support Groups, led by male facilitators with professional training, have a trauma informed approach that prioritises your safety and focuses on recovery and healing.
  • SAMSN’s Monthly Meetings provide a forum for connections and conversations about recovery, and opportunities for learning from each other.

We recognise the additional issues for more marginalised groups of men

Men who are not from the dominant white, male culture face additional challenges of stereotyping in relation to their identity as men. This includes Aboriginal men, those from culturally diverse backgrounds, prisoners, men from rural and remote areas, men in the military, men with disabilities, men from the LGBTQI communities and older men. These men experience additional layers of discrimination, shame, isolation and have often have less access to support.

We are building a network of survivors who are finding their pathways to recovery & healing

Despite the impacts of the abuse and the additional societal challenges, boys and men find ways to survive and manage these many challenges. You are a survivor.

Some of the things we know can build a strong and healthy sense of self are:

  • Knowledge – getting some facts and information about abuse, about emotions, about impacts and services available
  • Safety – within yourself, safe in your key relationships, and a safe place
  • Self-acceptance – realization that the abuse doesn’t define you, and accepting that others believe that too
  • Commonality – that you can find others who understand, knowing you are not alone
  • Control – you can make decisions, choices, and that things can change
  • Hope – for justice, a desire for change, finding a way to turn this into something that gives back

NOTES As pieces from SAMSN have been related to parts of my NRS – Apologies coping issues, I felt that some generalised parts of their site + Spoken Podcasts + hearing from more, in our growing community. Unsure how each of us will deal with ’Recovery + Healing’, each of us has different ways that we live. Even the final paragraph introduces some of the atypical parts of society, which are gradually growing larger/“more accepted”. Stereotypes may have a new definition in 100 yrs; yet right now Aboriginal Indigenous, culturally diverse, disabled, LGBTQI & aged sectors are targeted. Alike child sexual abuse, this should stop – alongside sexism + so many of the other ’ism’s.

RETRIEVED

https://www.samsn.org.au/recovery-and-healing/

Emotional Support and Adult Depression in Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Katherine L. Muslinera and Jonathan B. Singer

KEYWORDS: childhood sexual abuse; emotional support; depression; parents; friends


Opening its Abstract with “The goals of this study were to evaluate the effects of emotional support from friends and parents at two time points (adolescence and adulthood) on adult depression in a nationally representative sample of survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and examine whether the associations were moderated by the identity of the perpetrator (parent/caregiver vs. not).” (Abstract 2012 p1)

Emotional Support and CSA

The Role of the Timing of Support – Does it Matter When?

Current study

Method | Data, Measures, Data Analysis

Results | Descriptive Statistics, Effects of Emotional Support on Adult Depression, Moderation by Perpetrator Identity (see NOTE)

NOTE: “There was, however, a statistically significant interaction between parental support in adulthood and perpetrator identity (p = .02). As shown in Table 4, among survivors of non-parent/caregiver abuse, high support from parents in adulthood reduced the odds of depression by 67% (p < .0001), and high support from friends in adulthood reduced the odds of depression by 42% (p = .02). Among survivors of parent/caregiver abuse, none of the emotional support variables were significantly associated with adult depression.”

Moderation by Gender | Discussion, Limitations, Conclusions

Acknowledgments | Footnotes | References


There was a significant change in Victims-Survivours + when they reached Adulthood, after non-parent/caregiver abuse. You can still get Counselling, without ‘Reporting an Incident’. These can give Surviving Victims of CSA greater confidence + strength in their lives. (see Results, Moderation by Perpetrator Identity (see NOTE above)


RETRIEVED https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4383236/