Background:
The announcement of the Australian
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child sexual Abuse
by the Prime Minister on Monday 12 November 2012 was welcomed.
The Secretariat received 200 formal submissions ( including mine) and 600 emails during the consultation period
when stakeholders, survivors and the public were invited by the Attorney General to suggest Terms of Reference.
About three weeks after the announcement I saw the need to provide links to survivor services, and set up this site. for Aussie Survivors of child sexual abuse. having found to cater for survivors during the last 15 years since I commenced my journey of recovery. AS earely as 1998 I saw that sexual assault services to be the most helpful starting points with enormous potential to be comprehensive referal points of referance as well as most offering Helpline based support as issues arise.
Since then the aussie survivors site grew with my own articles and concepts - in particular the Grid of Issues
The Grid of Issues is a non sequencial tabel of issues survivors face including aspects of recovery.
I have in particular advocated that
sexual assault counseling and trauma release counseling be recognised as unique health care professions
with the minimum training being a Specialised Interdisciplinarty Masters Degree.
as distinct from "mental health" ( which is cognative) s they are neurophysiological
Support Services and Organisations.
Many of these organisations have helpful and informative articles on their site.
ASCA - Adults Surviving Child Abuse now known as the Blue Knot Foundation
ASCA has a Professional Support Line for Survivors 1300 657 380 in Australia
the recent increased funding from the Federal Government
has enabled ASCA to employ additional professional male and female counsellors
9 -5 Mon to Sat coverage during 2014 Now the Royal Commission has ended
Funding will depend on the Australian Government Funding arrangements.
Bravehearts ,
has been a tireless campaigner of Child Protection who also offer help and advice.
National telephone crisis support and information 1800 272 831
In January 2018 Brtavehearts announced the provision of
Bravehearts therapeutic and support services through this online protal
The South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault (SECASA)
provides services within the Southern Metropolitan Region ( of Victoria, Australia)
to children and adults, both female and male, who have been sexually assaulted.
The Centre also works with non-offending family members, partners, caregivers and support workers.
Living Well is a Queensland service for survivors of csa.
their websire has information and links.
telephone and chat support for survivors who
live in Queensland and can access their
face to face counsellors.
RAINN -
Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network.
America's largest anti-sexual violence organization
Information for Female and Male Survivors.
Rain On Line Chat Help
Broken Rites - for survivors of Catholic institutions.
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also in Australia most teaching or regional hospitals have a sexual assault unit
survivors can ring in business hours to make an appointment.
in NSW most units only have female counselors.
another resource is Good Therapy Australia who have their Find a Therapist feature.
Types of therapy is an excellent resource, listing all the different types of therapy.
Disclaimer - I am just another survivor trying to be of assistance.
read at your own risk on a no liability basis
Services one survivor finds useful may not assist other survivor
but are listed in good faith as a community service.
Survivors are encouraged to have face to face counseling
from a sexual assault counselor or a trauma release counselor.
Many directories refer survivors to Lifeline
Whilst Lifeline provide general support and hope when distressed which help callers to cope with
life's difficulties and help us to face difficult situations Lifeline is NOT a sexual assault counseling service
however Lifeline Counselors appear to be trauma informed .
some directories do not distinguish mental health from sexual assault services
whilst untreated csa (child sexual abuse) may contribute to or trigger depression
or even mental health issues
I strongly argue sexual assault counseling and trauma release counseling are seperate health care professionals.
my experience as a survivor is that the most helpful health care professionals are:
- sexual assault counselors
- psychologists and counselors with experience assisting csa survivors
- understanding GP's ( Doctors)
- when other health professionals ( eg Dentist) understand the impact csa can have in their field of medicine.
- trauma release counselors ( a fairly new field of health care professionals )
- comprehensive sites with articles.
- google searches of issues as they arise ( but with a critical approach to determine helpful sites and eliminate sidetracks and unhelpful sites.)
- understanding clergy ( not all clergy cope with csa issues ) others offer short term pastoral care.
the concept of a Grid Of Issues is based on the premise that as we gradually progress along our journey of recovery there are issues which we face along the way
these issues surface with no particular pattern
sometimes I find I leave off one issue because another issue is hindering my progress.
so the grid is meant to be random
and the order on the page bears no resemblance to the order they need to be worked on.
The usefulness of the grid is that it identifies issues whilst acknowledging they don't arise in any set order.
I am working on a step by step for survivors recovery site, which I started building 26/11/2012
Another project I have commenced is reading the books, articles and Professional Journals
to understand the research behind the websites we tend to access on Google Searches.
Whilst much of my work is original
I will do my best to link to sources for further reading.
though its sometimes overwhelming when one has been researching, to recall every source.
I am firmly of the opinion that we need to go beyond "GP" style counseling
and to be more forused on referals to specialist counselors where needed and when available:
eg most Degrees in Psychology have only 1 or no units specifically in trauma
I suggest sexual assault counseling, and trauma release therapies
are specialities which ought to be seperate degrees or Post Grad Diplomas.
It is hoped that funding will one day be given to neuro psysiological doctoral research centres
to measure the neurological impact of sexual trauma on survivors and develop these proposed interdisciplinary courses.
I would encourage professionals to look at Courses offered such as
Bravehearts on line cources for Professionals.
and ASCA's Courses for Professionals.
It is my view that there is a need for colaboration between the Sexual Assault Units and Chaplaincy
and between theology/ pastoral care and psychology/counseling.
noting some survivors avoid religion as it is triggering whilst others thrive on such integration.
such interaction would also facilitate Clergy to better understand the impact of sexual abuse on survivors
and the need for trauma informed ministry.
Feedback and enquiries : nathan@aussiesurvivors.com