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By: Shelby Bubnick  Every 98 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted.* The prevalence of sexual assault is alarming, and it affects more than the primary victim. Sexual assault can also affect the friends, family, and community of the survivor. If your loved one has been sexually assaulted, it is normal to feel upset, or at a loss for words. In some cases, you may be the first person the survivor has told. This may put pressure on you as you search for the right things to say and do. Consider the following when responding to a loved one that is disclosing they have been sexually assaulted.
Advocates at Beacon of Hope Crisis Center are trained to assist victims of sexual assault by providing support and education. Learn more here. If you would like to speak with an advocate, please call our crisis line (317)731-6140. By: Shelby Bubnick  After experiencing trauma, you may be healing from injuries or feeling emotionally drained. It is essential to keep your body healthy and active during this time. Whether it happened recently or many years ago, there are many ways you can cope with short-term and long-term effects of trauma. Reactions to trauma can be psychological, emotional, cognitive, physical, and behavioral. Common reactions to trauma are listed below.
Psychological and Emotional
Coping with trauma can be hard to do on your own, do not hesitate to seek professional help. To speak with an advocate and learn more about services at Beacon of Hope Crisis Center please call our crisis line (317) 731-6140. By: Shelby Bubnick  Children who have witnessed domestic violence may experience significant long-term effects. According to the Childhood Domestic Violence Association, 40 million adult Americans grew up living with domestic violence. Witnessing domestic violence can have a lasting impact on their lives and alter their hopes for the future.
Children who grow up in homes with domestic violence are three times more likely to repeat the cycle in adulthood as a victim in an abusive relationships or by becoming abusers themselves. * This can happen because violence becomes a norm in the eyes of the child and feel that they are at fault. 30% to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the household. ** Studies support the findings that rates of abuse are higher among those who were abused as children or who witnessed abuse as children. ** These children can also be at higher risk for health problems when they become adults. These can be psychological, such as depression and anxiety. While others may experience problems with their physical health such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and more. Many studies show that stress and trauma can impair children’s brain development. Adults who experienced significant early life stress have differences in brain structure compared to people who experienced low levels of early stress. * Early exposure to violence can influence an infant’s stress reactivity. This can have lifelong effects on psychological and physical health. Domestic violence can even affect a child before they are born as domestic violence often begins or grows more intense during pregnancy. This results in maternal stress, which can interfere with fetal brain development. * Long-term effects of witnessing domestic violence as a child:
*cdv.org **domesticshelters.org By Andrea Jenkins, MSW, LCSW Beacon of Hope Crisis Center offers in-house counseling services which removes many barriers for our clients including access to services, inability to pay for services, and incapability to self-advocate for needs. Our team can meet the needs of the women, men and families who contact us for services with competency and grace. During this challenging time, many of our clients are ready to receive support from a counselor to resolve presenting problems, experience personal growth, address problematic behaviors, and identify goals with potential solutions. Counseling is a vital component to healing after being in an abusive relationship. It gives the person an opportunity to tell their emotionally filled story in a safe, non-judgmental place. For most, this is the first time they have been able to tell their story in its entirety including the role they played in the relationship. This courageous act is where internal healing begins. Coming to counseling for some is the first thing that they have done for themselves in years. In therapy, they can see their strength to move through their journey of hurt which allows them to go from victim to survivor. Beacon of Hope Crisis Center counseling services provide individuals and families an opportunity to visualize and work toward the future they want which for most is simply to be HAPPY AND SAFE.  |
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This blog is about our domestic and sexual violence crisis center, Beacon of Hope. We hope you find it full of helpful information, motivation, creativity, serious facts and positivity. We hope that it will help you know what is happening in our center, in our community and with our events. We hope you follow our blog in support of our organization and our mission. Archives
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