Counselling
from Hurting to Healing
At Hurting to Healing, we understand how very difficult it can be to come and talk to strangers about very painful and distressing experiences of being abused and or neglected as a child. We understand that it can be confusing to recognise that the current struggles you are experiencing today may be direct or indirect consequences of abuse you suffered when a child. Our founder, the late Dr. Moira Walker wrote in "Surviving Secrets"
"Whenever we work with an adult who has been abused as a child, we also work with the frightened and hurt child they once were, and who is still hiding within. As Alice Miller says:
'The goal of therapy is to allow the silenced child in us to speak and feel. Gradually the banishment of our knowledge is revoked, and in the course of this process, as the erstwhile torments and the still-existent prisons become evident, we also discover our history, ourself and our buried capacity for love.' (1991:189)
The child can manifest themselves in many ways, but when they make an appearance they need to be noticed, listened to and treated with the greatest care and respect."
We know that it understandably takes time for survivors of childhood abuse to trust, when you may never have felt the experience of being safe, of being believed, or of having your experiences and suffering validated by another.
Counselling is a partnership between counsellor and client, who meet in a confidential setting to explore a difficulty or distress the client is experiencing. It is always at the request of the client.
Our Counselling service is kept confidential within Hurting to Healing within the limits of UK law. We don’t write your name on any notes or records we write about you.
Your contact details are kept separately. There are some exceptions we might need to make to confidentiality:
If we had serious concerns that you were at risk of harming yourself, or someone else, or the protection of a child is at stake.
If there are particular concerns about the current protection of any children we may need to contact other agencies. Normally this would occur only after discussion and with the full agreement of the person concerned, but there may be exceptional circumstances where this is not possible. If our organisation is required to submit a client’s notes and records for a police investigation or court case. We have a legal obligation to comply with requests from the police and Crown Prosecution Service - and it is important that you are aware of this.
"Will I be expected to tell my counsellor everything about me?"
You do not have to tell the counsellor everything about you and your life. Some clients feel that having got this far they must now tell the counsellor everything all at once, others feel very anxious about disclosing painful secrets that they may never have told anyone before. We understand this, and it is important for the counsellor to help you to feel safe enough to disclose at a pace that enables you to manage daily life in the days between sessions. When you are ready, you will find it helpful to be as open with your counsellor as you can and your counsellor will help you with this.
Your counsellor will often clarify, reflect comments back to you and encourage further exploration so that you both develop understanding of your situation today and when you were a child growing up.
