We offer free specialist counselling for people who have experienced rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse. Our Specialist Counselling Service is accredited with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, and we follow its Ethical Framework.
Counselling at RASASC provides a space for you to gain an understanding of yourself, to help you to gain perspective on your experiences, and to help you to develop positive ways of coping.
What is counselling?
Our specialist counselling aims to help you to find ways of coping with your experience of rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse of any kind. Our specialist counsellors provide a trauma focused approach to therapy, this means that we will initially work on techniques to help you to feel more able to manage your emotions, before moving on to safely talk about your thoughts and feelings about what has happened.
Counselling is time limited, with an offer of 12 weekly sessions to each person who accesses support. Sessions last for 50 minutes and will be at the same time and place each week.
Following an assessment, and dependent upon your needs and circumstance we can offer:
- Face to face in a community based location
- Telephone sessions
- Online sessions
It is important to remember that therapy will be tailored to your individual needs, and your counsellor will review your sessions regularly to assess whether therapy is meeting your needs.
Counselling at RASASC is integrative, with a client centred ethos. This means that we use different models of therapy to try to meet the needs of each individual. Clients are offered an in-depth assessment, followed by a referral to the counselling waiting list. Our counsellors will never pressure you into talking about anything you do not wish to. You and your counsellor will review your needs and expectations on a regular basis to try to ensure that your counselling is as effective as possible.
Pre-Trial Therapy
Counselling is available whether you have reported to the police or not. If you choose to access therapy before your case goes to court, we adhere to guidelines from the Crown Prosecution Service.
If you decide to access therapy before your case goes to trial, this is termed Pre-Trial Therapy. It is important that you talk to your ISVA about this decision, for instance some people find it more beneficial to engage in therapy when the case is concluded and the court process is over.
Your Safety and Confidentiality
The counselling service is confidential unless we think that there is a risk of significant harm to you or to someone else, in which case we would discuss this with you in line with our Confidentiality Statement. Your counsellor will discuss confidentiality with you during your first session.
Getting Started and Waiting List
You can refer yourself for counselling by telephoning our information line – 0330 363 0063 or by completing our Self-Referral Form.
We recognise that it can be difficult waiting for your counselling to begin, and we are committed to managing waiting lists carefully.
We have an online trauma recovery programme ‘taste of recovery’ available to those on the waiting list, as well as a wide selection of resources on our Self Help page.
