Therapy for abuse can be a powerful tool for reclaiming your sense of safety in the world, and rebuilding your identity through experiencing validation of your strengths and personal values. Our focus in therapy will centre around working through self-doubt, understanding the significance of formative attachment relationships, working through role transitions and feelings of vulnerability, and practicing clear communication of needs in alignment with personal values.
Understanding experiences of abuse
Experiences of abuse may originate from factors such as environment (inside or outside of the home or community), social roles, discrimination, cultural expectations and/or norms, and/or other types of circumstances which put people at risk of abuse or exploitation.
Why you might seek out therapy for experiences of abuse
If you are seeking therapy to explore the effects of or experience of abuse you may also feel the need to socially withdraw or you may engage in risk through sexual encounters or substance use. You may have difficulty regulating your mood or emotions, feel disconnected from things around you or have increased hypervigilance, be self-critical, experience feelings of shame, and/or fear rejection. You may be experiencing changes in your appetite, sleep, or physical comfort (ex. somatic symptoms such as body aches). You may be wondering if therapy is right for you or if it can really change the course of your life and you may hesitate to put yourself in a vulnerable position through sharing your story.
Exploring experiences of abuse at Think Joy Drama Therapy
Individual Therapy:
Individual therapy for processing experiences of abuse at Think Joy Drama Therapy could be direct verbal processing such as in a talk therapy focused session. This may be a good option for you prefer to talk through patterns or understand relational experiences from a place of increasing self-awareness.
Individual drama play sessions might be a good choice for you if you often dissociate when recalling past experiences of abuse, have difficulty remembering details relating to those moments in your life, have a high degree of shame attached to these experiences or the coping mechanisms which surround them, or are highly self-aware and find that a ‘part of you’ blocks the conversation(s) from happening. These sessions take advantage of using creativity as a landing place for the trauma/ confusing narratives to sit, allowing your adaptive coping mechanisms to play out and if it feels right, to explore the creative engagements from a trauma focused viewpoint, being curious about what ‘came up’ during those experiences. Journaling can be used to further process the experiences.
Group Therapy:
Poetry Therapy Group This option may be helpful if your experience of abuse is located in the past and you have access to personal coping skills to help you if your nervous system becomes activated in a session. Although there are opportunities for open discussion in groups in response to prompts and poems, you may choose to use a journal in sessions to contain your thoughts if vulnerability in a group situation is a concern for you.
Limited Group Therapy Series: Hero’s Journey This option may be helpful if you are looking to process feelings around abuse and or identity shifts. This group will engage with creativity (sound, movement, visual art and storytelling) as a way to explore the mind-body connection and transition the self gently towards healing past trauma and/or non-verbal processing of abuse, experiences of trauma and difficult to grasp memories which may otherwise cause you to dissociate in a talk-therapy focused context.
Crisis Resources
If you are in crisis involving abuse or currently experiencing domestic violence there are options available to you and you don’t have to go through this alone. Here are some resources which you may find helpful.
Resource list for Men/boys
