Exploring Men's Experiences in Therapy After Sexual Violence

Men experience sexual abuse and violence too. It is estimated that 1 in 18 men experience rape or sexual assault as an adult (ONS, 2023), and approximately 5% of boys experience sexual abuse in childhood (Home Office, 2023).

I am a trainee counselling psychologist and a qualified counsellor. I have worked within domestic abuse and sexual violence services for the last 10 years, and I have seen that men are less likely to access these services for support. Also, a lot of the research into domestic and sexual abuse is focused on women and girls, with men's experiences being mostly overlooked.

I am researching men's experiences within counselling and of working with a therapist following any kind of sexual violence, abuse or unwanted sexual encounter. I am focusing on what goes on within therapy so that we can learn as much a possible about this process for male survivors. My aim is that this information will inform service development and improve training for counsellors, psychologists and psychotherapists so that men who have been through these experiences can get access to appropriate and the most suitable form of support.

I am looking for participants who have completed counselling / psychotherapy, and are willing to talk about their experiences within therapy. I also ask that participant are able to talk about the impact of any sexual violence, abuse or unwanted sexual encounter, although they will not need to talk about the details of what happened.

There will be two interviews, that will last about an hour each and will be in person, or on teams.

If you are interested in taking part in this research or have  any questions at all, please contact me on helen2.biggs@live.uwe.ac.uk

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