When You're Not Believed: The Aftermath of Sexual Abuse SelfWork #156

The SelfWork Podcast

Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD

Education, Mental Health, Health & Fitness, Self-improvement

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 November 2019

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you've been sexually abused in any way, it changes the way you live your life. You can heal but it takes work and courage. But what if you're abused, you report or tell someone about it and you're not believed? This aftermath of abuse -- this total negation of what happened -- can feel even worse than the initial trauma. That's what we're focusing on today on SelfWork. If you've been abused, listening may trigger you in some way. So please take care. Ask for help if you need it. The hotline numbers for both the UK and the US can be found in the show notes.

The listener email is from a young woman who’s identified with perfectly hidden depression but doesn’t know how to begin to look for a therapist… and how to reveal her hiding.

Important links:

The Indianapolis Star revealed massive exploitation and coverup of sexual abuse in the US Gymnastics program

RAINN's statistics: most rapes never get reported. Other figures are staggering.

Andy Woodward's story as he revealed the details of his abuse.

Study identifying several irrational beliefs about male sexual abuse.

My own article on becoming sexually aroused during the abuse

Studies indicate that 1/3 of abused male children are likely to abuse.

In the UK, The Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. For the RAINN sexual abuse hotline click here.

You can hear more about the aftermath of abuse and many other topics by listening to my podcast, SelfWork with Dr. Margaret Rutherford. Subscribe to my website and receive one weekly newsletter including my weekly blog post and podcast! If you’d like to join my FaceBook closed group, then click here and answer the membership questions! Welcome!

My new book entitled Perfectly Hidden Depression has arrived and you can order here! Its message is specifically for those with a struggle with strong perfectionism which acts to mask underlying emotional pain. But the many self-help techniques described can be used by everyone who chooses to begin to address emotions long hidden away that are clouding and sabotaging your current life.

And there’s a new way to send me a message! You can record by clicking below and ask your question or make a comment. You’ll have 90 seconds to do so and that time goes quickly. By recording, you’re giving SelfWork (and me) permission to use your voice on the podcast. I’ll look forward to hearing from you!

Our Sponsors: * Check out BetterHelp and use my code betterhelp.com for a great deal: https://www.betterhelp.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is self-work and I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford.
0:13.0	At self-work we'll discuss psychological and emotional issues common in today's world
0:19.0	and what to do about them.
0:20.0	I'm Dr. Margaret and self-work is a podcast dedicated to you taking just a few minutes today for your own self-work.
0:29.0	Hi and welcome to self-work. I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford. I'm a clinical psychologist out of Fayetteville, Arkansas.
0:35.0	And I've been doing this podcast about three years now. I want to reach the people who are very psychologically motivated.
0:42.0	I want to reach people who might have been
0:43.7	initially diagnosed with depression or anxiety and are searching for answers and I
0:48.9	want to help those of you who might never darken the door of a therapist but are just curious enough to give
0:54.1	someone like me a listen. I want to quickly ask those of you who might have been
0:58.2	meaning to do this but just haven't yet to leave me a review on iTunes. It really helps to spread the word about the
1:05.5	Self-Works Podcast. But on to the topic of the show. We're going to talk today
1:10.3	about sexual abuse, so please know that listening this may trigger you in
1:14.3	some way if you have any abuse in your history. I'll have the hotline numbers to
1:19.3	both the UK and the US sexual abuse hotlines in the show notes. So please take care. The topic
1:26.0	we're actually going to cover is when people who have been abused reveal that they have and they're not believed. I'll use some case
1:35.4	histories from my own patients obviously anonymously so that you can hear from
1:39.7	them how hard it was not to be believed or actually for the abuse to be covered up intentionally.
1:46.7	We've all heard about the USA Gymnastics team, and actually the Indianapolis Star did a
1:52.3	huge investigation and discovered a pattern of coaches and others
1:56.0	failing to report sexual abuse to authorities.
1:59.2	And they actually uncovered more than 360 cases spanning 20 years in which gymnasts were accusing coaches of
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Margaret Robinson Rutherford PhD and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.