counselling services

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Welcome to the SOS web page - for Survivors of Sexual Abuse:

	If you need to talk, you can phone Mary or Zena on 0151 707 1025 or email sos@ypas.org.uk The SOS project provides one-to-one counselling and group work for young people aged 10 to 25, giving young people the opportunity to explore what is going on for them.
	from all the young people who have been involved with the SOS project.

We have produced this information to give you an idea of what goes on, both in the one-to-one counselling and group work.

We are all young people aged between 10 and 25, and getting involved with this service has made a positive difference to our lives. We hope you will find our comments and artwork helpful, and this information will enable you to take the first step that is right for you!

The Truth Has Set Me Free I was sexually abused as a child. I was seven years old when it began. It occurred in a foster home that I was living in. At the age of nine, Social Services knew something was wrong and that I was always unhappy and quiet - I was moved immediately. At the time I didn’t know that what was happening to me was wrong. I felt fear, alone, upset and confused all of the time, and also ashamed of what was happening to me.

When I moved to another foster home these feelings of terror stayed in my mind. I felt completely alone and wouldn’t open up to anybody. When I did, it was the best relief of my life. It made me finally feel free again - knowing I had told someone made me escape feeling alone.

From then on, things began to improve in life for me, and they continue improving all the time. Now I only look towards the future and try to never look back, as painful as life can be sometimes. I look at how I have coped throughout the years and the good things I have which make me happy. I do still find it hard to trust people in life, I have a boyfriend who tries to help me and who also tries to understand my feelings. He helps me when I feel down.

You are never alone, and it wasn’t your fault! There is always someone to talk to.

I never told anybody until I was 13, I wish I had told somebody a lot earlier though. The sooner that you tell somebody and get advice the better and the sooner you can move on and look towards the future, instead of the past still being a part of you. I know from my own experience - I didn’t think I had the strength to tell somebody, but then I found the strength inside of me. It is never too late to let someone know, there is always someone who will listen.

The Candle and the Demon When I began counselling, I felt as though I was living in a cave. My only companions were a single candle and a demon I could not see, hear or touch, but one I could feel pinning me in the darkness.

I focussed so hard on that candle, but every time I looked at it, it had dimmed and had almost burnt out. I am now, as a result of my counselling, holding the candle, and it's warming my face and drying my tears. The demon I once feared is no longer pinning me - I am holding it by the scruff of the neck and wrestling with it. I know this demon and I have unfinished business, but at last I can look it in the eye, unafraid.

To download our SOS leaflet, click on the image on the left. To read PDF files, you need Acrobat Reader. You can download it here:

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