One of the more difficult topics that can come up in therapy, or in our day-to-day lives, is the topic of sexual assault. Both sides of a conversation about rape, incest, molestation or any other form of sexual assault are fraught with what feels like emotional land mines.

Victims are afraid of telling their story due to fear of being judged, feeling isolated, or having others withdraw from them. The people who are listening, on the other hand, may fear saying the wrong thing, hurting the survivor even more, or alienating them.

Both sides have realistic fears around the conversation.

But, as Nancy Venerable Raine wrote in her book After Silence: Rape & My Journey Back, “people’s resistance to hearing about the aftermath of the rape – the new patterns of thought and feeling that turned, year after year, like the bright shards of glass in a kaleidoscope – pained me. It seemed that close friends either withdrew or judged me.”

So, in the video, I talk a bit about how to talk about rape, sexual assault, molestation and incest, as well as how to listen. If you have any questions, do feel free to write me an email or leave a comment. If you are in Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, or the surrounding areas, and need counseling around the topics of sexual assault, rape, incest, molestation, or just need someone to talk to, please feel free to get in touch with me.

With special thanks to Reinhard Kuchenbäcker for image use