Victims of Abuse 

If you are among the thousands of adults or adolescents who suffer from the after- effects of having been sexually abused you can, with professional help from an understanding and trained psychotherapist, find relief from the symptoms that remain. When you ignore or bury the pain inside yourself, the symptoms often linger for years. They sometimes surface at unexpected and most unwanted times.

These issues are often complicated by misunderstanding, conflict in families, and a lack of support by family members. It is hard for people to understand something of which they are afraid and which they do not want to acknowledge. Research shows that most sexual abuse of children is perpetrated, not by a stranger, but by a family member or trusted adult.

Pushing these lingering symptoms away for awhile is not the same as working through them. Working through them with a professional helps you learn to control them rather than allowing them to control you.

Common short-term and long-term effects of sexual abuse

• Difficulty in controlling feelings and emotions
• Intrusive thoughts, feelings and flashbacks that keep occurring
• Nightmares or other sleep problems
• Sadness or irritability
• Anxiety and excessive fearfulness
• Guilt, shame, or self-consciousness
• Eating disorders
• Excessive anger
• Feeling worthless, dirty, or ugly
• Desire to punish or hurt oneself
• Feeling numb, unable to experience emotions
• Inability to enjoy sex or excessive desire for sex
• Trouble with memory and feelings of having lost time
• Feeling separate from oneself

Dr. Cummings Nicholson specializes in treating male and female adolescents and adults who have experienced sexual abuse. The treatment of disassociative disorders, which sometimes follow victimization, is included.

The spouse or partner of abuse victims is encouraged to come in for information on how to support the client emotionally during the recovery period.