Last Updated on December 28, 2022 by Mike Robinson

Overcoming rape in childhood is possible by intervening quickly with trained and experienced professionals. It is also important to have the support of family and close friends.

Sexual abuse ruins many people’s lives and can leave innumerable consequences for the individual who suffers. In addition, it is common for the effects of abuse to impact the victim, their family, and their immediate social network.

Rape in childhood

Rape has a highly traumatic mental impact on its victim. Therefore, it is vital to intervene in these cases as soon as possible to prevent additional psychological problems.

Sexual abuse and the importance of intervention

Sexual abuse is an extremely high emotional blow for the person who experiences it.

It causes damage to self-love and the way a person views life. When it occurs in childhood, it can drastically impact the individual’s personal development.

Suffering a violation can alter the person’s emotional development and produce a wide range of problems.

The most significant is the development of major depression.  However, many other psychological alterations can appear after sexual abuse if an intervention is not properly performed.

Most of the disorders that develop afterward are related to the avoidance of reality.  Due to the high stress that the event caused, the person may not be able to understand different aspects of their life.

Therefore, like any traumatic event, rape requires an internal elaboration process in order to overcome the trauma.

If it is not done, the psychological changes can become chronic, and the psychological discomfort is buried on the inside.

The most effective method to overcome these situations is to perform psychotherapy focused on addressing the traumatic event.

How to overcome rape

Not all abused people react in the same way, so no single formula allows the event to be adequately diagnosed to overcome the trauma.

However, there are usually several risk factors for emotional problems that are revealed after the experience of abuse.

The most normal thing is that, after an event like this, you get messages like “you are worth nothing,” “you are an object that anyone can use,” “you are so bad that life has punished you,” or “you are not good for anything.”

The feelings of helplessness and lack of control can cause the person to lose all the qualities and traits that defined their identity and completely forget who they are.

This fact is particularly important when it comes to child abuse.  Children’s emotional development is more immature and less advanced than that of adults. It is difficult to introduce logical ideas that remove the trauma’s associations.

For this reason, it is essential and crucial to use particular psychological therapies to rebuild what the abuse destroyed.

Is therapy the best option for recovery?

Having been sexually assaulted as a child can result in a wide range of symptoms and psychological problems.

Over time, the person may develop eating disorders like bulimia or anorexia, as well as issues with drug use, major depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

If any of these psychopathologies are present, a particular psychological therapy will be needed to deal with the mental disorder.

However, regardless of the disorders brought on by sexual abuse, it is crucial in these situations to carry out therapy that is centered on the incident. The main cause of the person’s discomfort and the resulting psychological changes resulting from rape

In this way, the goal of psychological therapy must be the reconstruction of all the destroyed facets of the individual. It’s possible that the violation compromised the person’s identity and led to personality traits like depression, low self-esteem, and helplessness.

The patient and the therapist will collaborate to completely reconstruct any elements that have been damaged as a result of the rape.

Repair therapy is an effective treatment for child rape.

This psychological treatment focuses on identifying the various phases of the repair process. Dolan asserts that three main stages should guide the therapeutic process.

1. Recognize yourself as a victim.

The first step entails documenting the power abuse and hierarchical inequality that were reported in relation to the abuser. The patient must accept that he is a victim and that he must live with this reality without fear.

2. Recognize yourself as a survivor.

Subsequently, the victim must identify the personal resources that have allowed him to protect himself from the abuse and overcome its long-term effects.

The role of victim was experienced at the time of the violation; at present, the role that has developed is that of the survivor.

3. Celebrate life

Finally, it is necessary to regain the ability to envision a future free from abuse’s sway over how one’s life is organized.

The traumatic event does not go away. So the person must keep it in their mind as something that happened in the past and not in the present or the future.

Therapeutic implications

These three phases show a person’s steps to recover from sexual abuse. Psychotherapy’s objective is to help the patient get through each stage so they can finally find recovery. A number of therapeutic implications must be considered in order to accomplish this.

• The process requires that the victim first come to terms with their status as a victim and then get over their guilt over the abuse. This is a key component of therapy because it helps patients identify the traumatic event and starts the elaboration process.

• The rape incident must also be evaluated in the context of a violent relationship in which the victim had no power to stop the adult’s abusive behavior.

• Recognizing that you have experienced sexual abuse in the past is important, but this does not mean that you must live with the consequences of that abuse. The abuse itself must be separated from its consequences.

• The key to guiding recovery will be for the individual to connect with and lean on their own areas of strength.

• The final therapeutic implication is working with the individual to regain control over their own lives and positively develop them.

Specific therapeutic focuses

More specifically, therapeutic focuses that benefit the victim and assist in getting over the traumatic event should be suggested.The main ones are:

Building a framework for communication that incorporates abuse

Due to the person’s fear of being disregarded or held responsible, the fact that the abuse was not viewed as their fault builds a protective wall for that person.

By doing so, the therapist builds the person up and creates a position of complete acceptance of what happened. This has therapeutic effects on its own. Additionally, it will make it possible to build a relationship based on trust so that the effort to end the mental trauma can continue.

Verbalize the experience

People who have experienced abuse frequently have hazy memories that make it difficult to understand what actually happened. Therefore, the goal of psychotherapy will be to give words to all the memories connected to the incident.

This fact supports the validation of the perceptions and experiences related to the violation and aids in the person’s ability to describe the violation in more detail.

The more comprehensible the victim’s account of what occurred, the easier to comprehend what occurred, accept it, and overcome it. To elaborate on a trauma, you must talk about it.

Release the internal feelings associated with the abuse.

Agonizing and strong emotions of anguish, guilt, shame, fear, mistrust, sadness, or anger typically accompany the abuse.

These emotions are the main ones that prevent the discomfort brought on by the violation and stop the trauma from intensifying. The therapist’s role is to provide a safe space where emotions can be acknowledged, validated, and allowed to be controlled.

To elaborate on the incident and lessen the discomfort it causes, the person is assisted in legitimizing their experiences.

Symptoms associated with rape

Due to the disturbance caused by the rape, the person may experience a series of psychological symptoms.

This symptomatology should be examined with extra care, and if it is particularly severe, it might call for a more focused psychological intervention. The primary signs include:

• feelings of confusion and a change in one’s perception of their bodies.
• Fear, rage, sadness, and discouragement are felt.
• feelings of guilt .
• loss of appetite
• problems falling asleep and staying asleep.
• not comfortable being around friends, your partner, or your family.
• reexperiencing the event through nightmares, hallucinations, or flashbacks, and constantly thinking about what happened.
• feeling as though what has happened is not real.
• Be on high alert at all times, easily startled by anything, and impatient and agitated.
• difficulty concentrating .
• symptoms of physiological activation like tremors, tachycardia, sweating, or drowning sensations
• Avoiding places or situations that are reminiscent of aggression or abuse
• fatigue, apathy, and a sense of being disabled
• Changes in sexual behavior include a lack of any sexual desire or a sharp increase in desire and actions that are hypersexual.

What can the victim do alone?

Seeing a psychologist is the most efficient and secure way to recover from childhood abuse. Psychotherapy enables the analysis and establishment of recovery’s component parts in the most advantageous manner.

However, this does not imply that one can’t recover from rape without the aid of a psychologist or that the victim of a rape cannot engage in self-help activities even while receiving psychotherapy.

So, next, we’ll talk about the fundamental skills that a victim of sexual abuse can learn on their own, which are very helpful in helping them process their trauma and get over the consequences of the violation.

Avoid isolation at all times.

It is important to give yourself the opportunity to talk about what happened with people you trust.

As we have seen, the greatest danger posed by an event of sexual abuse is that it is “embedded” inside the person and manifests through psychopathological symptoms. It is very important to be able to talk about it in a climate of tranquility and confidence. Giving yourself the chance to discuss what happened with people you trust is crucial. As we’ve seen, the biggest threat posed by a sexual abuse event is that it becomes “embedded” within the victim and shows up as psychopathological symptoms. It is crucial to be able to discuss it in a setting of calm and assurance.

Do not avoid situations where you remember what happened.

Due to the fear that the rape incident causes, it is very common for the person to start avoiding any stimuli that may cause him to be reminded of the traumatic event. However, since it can trigger the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder, this may be harmful to the victim. It is therefore advantageous for the victim to try not to avoid situations that trigger memories of what happened, even though doing so shouldn’t be coerced.

Use resources

It is crucial to seek assistance now because sexual abuse frequently results in a significant degree of change in the victim’s life.

Also Read: Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

Family and friends should serve as your primary support network, but getting in touch with local victims’ organizations is crucial. These organizations will offer direction, counseling, support, and treatment for any psychological issues.