Jigsaw Counselling

There is a general perception that most rapes are perpetrated by a man against a woman and usually by a stranger. This does happen, but in most cases, the majority of those raped, know the rapist.
Physical sensations with or without the feelings described below are not always but sometimes due to the rape or act of sexual violence, even if they develop many months after the incident.

After being raped it is common for the victim to experience intense, and sometimes unpredictable, emotions, and they may find it hard to deal with their memories of the assault. Victims can be severely traumatised by the assault and may have difficulty functioning as well as they had been used to prior to the assault, with disruption of concentration, sleeping patterns and eating habits, for example. They may feel jumpy or be on edge. In the month(s) immediately following the assault these problems may be severe and very upsetting and may prevent the victim from revealing their ordeal to friends or family, or seeking police or medical assistance. This may result in PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Symptoms of this are:

• Feeling numb and detached, like being in a daze or a dream, or feeling that the world is strange and unreal.
• Feeling as though the brain has been hi - jacked with the rape taking up 100% of the victim's thinking time.
• Difficulty remembering important parts of the assault.
• Reliving the assault through repeated thoughts, memories, flashbacks or nightmares.
• Avoidance of things, places, thoughts, feelings that remind the victim of the assault.
• Having panic attacks.
• Anxiety or increased arousal (difficulty sleeping, concentrating, etc).

"With the right help, it is possible to move on, to put what has happened behind you, to become empowered and to rebuild you life"
At Jigsaw we can give you time, acknowledgement of your pain and understanding of your needs in the 'here and now' of your experience.
We specialise in working with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) collectively, we offer the following interventions:

• Professional Trauma Counselling
• Critical Incident De-Briefing (Group & Individual)
• EMDR Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing
• Inner Child Therapy
• Hypnoanalysis
• Relaxation

All therapy rooms are designed to be calm, confidential, safe and private, allowing the client time and space to explore their experience with a trained, experienced professional.

Men get raped too! Each individual reacts in his or her own way after being a target of rape or sexual assault. This reaction has no bearing on gender apart from the usual stigma from other people. At Jigsaw we have male and female professionals trained to work with the posttraumatic effects of rape and/or sexual violence.

Please refer to Specialist Trauma Intervention page for further information.