Counseling male rape victims Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Counseling male rape victims - Research Paper Example The victims are also required to process the rape and the possible experiences they may face after the ordeal with their formal and informal providers of support. Second, observations made from evaluating therapeutic techniques show that cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) can work quite well in the reduction of the short term post rape anxiety and fear symptoms. Though, feminist therapies focus on the long term issues in dealing with self blame and guilt, they are known to work at times for the short term issues. Finally It is common for the mental health practitioners who deal with the male rape victims to also experience disturbing feelings that are similar to those experienced by the rape victim. These symptoms are referred to as Secondary Traumatic stress usually experienced by practitioners who deal with a high number of sexually assaulted victims, thus, the need for the application of self-care strategies for these therapists. Introduction The term rape/sexual assault are usu ally defined in many different ways, but, it is explained that rape is the unwanted sexual acts that range from touching to penetration. Usually it is assumed that phrase ‘victims of sexual abuse’ or ‘rape victims’ usually refer to women, but contrary to that, men and boys are also victims of the vice and research shows that in America 10% of the rape victims are men and boys. According to the mental health practitioners who dealt with them, men and boys suffer post-traumatic stress similar to those experienced by women, but are not willing to accept that they are rape victims and need assistance. For some time now practitioners, researchers have tried to find out how sexual assault on males impacts the individuals health psychologically and to create therapies that efficient in enhancing the recovery of these male victims. This essay seeks to explain the research results on three major issues for the practitioners who deal with the male rape victims. These issues are: one, the experiences of the male rape victims and the issues they may put forward in therapy, two, the therapeutic techniques and methods that have yielded success in enhancing recovery of the victims, lastly, the effects of dealing with the male rape victims on the health practitioner dealing with them. The experiences of the male rape victims and the issues they may put forward in therapy Currently, research focuses mainly on putting down and explaining the post traumatic impacts ion the male rape victim’s way of life. The research findings show that the victims struggle with the effects of the assault directly and the effects of the assault on the people who are close to them, that is family and friends. Thus, these results shows that the male rape survivors may share a variety of concerns in therapy and the therapists must be informed of the various negative impacts of sexual assault (Odem & Warner, 1998). Sexual assault/ rape are devastating and normally it wrecks the survivor’s ability to maintain a consistent illusion of safety at the personal level, their invulnerability, and threatens some of the beliefs and assumptions the victims identify with and the larger community that surrounds them. The victims are likely to display extreme levels of psychological distress, guilt, fear, shame, tension, anxiety, anger among others. These different psychological symptoms are usually viewed as an exhibition of the