A religious teacher once said that he had not come to judge people. A powerful message but one that is often so hard to apply to ourselves – especially when things are not going well or we have taken a wrong turning in life. We often hold huge unempathetic and […]
Last week Into The Light delivered an afternoon’s training to some fantastic counsellors who work at The Young People’s Shop in Chichester. The training was specifically on Trauma Informed Practice in counselling with a focus on working with Survivors. The training went really well – the counsellors were really talented […]
Janina Fisher a pioneering Trauma Counsellor and Writer recently sent an email to Sadie one of our Senior counsellors on healing. This is what she said: About 10 years ago, a student asked me a question that stayed with me: “What do we mean by healing? We talk about trauma […]
Most great instigators of social change have intimate personal knowledge of trauma. Oprah Winfrey comes to mind as do Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela and Elli Wiesel. Read the life history of any visionary and you will find insights and passions that came from having dealt with devastation. The same is […]
We have subsidised spaces coming up for our Autumn Women Survivors Group Psycho-Educational Course for London Women Survivors. Autumn may seem a long way away but we are starting to form the group in the next few weeks. This is a psycho-educational topic based course facilitated by Trained Counsellors especially […]
Post Traumatic Growth is the third phase of the Phased Oriented Approach to Trauma Recovery. In this phase there is a creation of a new sense of self and a new future. This is often a neglected stage. People often get caught up in stabilizing and examining memories but forget […]
There is a myth that people who were sexually abused as children are likely to become abusers themselves The facts are that most victims and survivors of child sexual abuse never rape or sexually abuse other people. There is never an excuse for sexual abuse or any other type of […]
Supporters of Survivors may often feel overlooked or not supported themselves. It can be so hard to be a friend, partner or relative of someone who has experienced abuse. Of course you want to support the person you care about as best as you can. But that is not always […]
We are really excited to welcome everyone attending to our Into The Light workshop tomorrow. This workshop is for people of all genders who are Survivors and also those who support Survivors – this could be partners, friends and also counsellors and mental health professionals. During the workshop we will […]
You are probably not alone – even if you are not going through trauma recovery – just switching on Breakfast TV can make us feel extremely anxious. There are ways we can learn how to calm ourselves and this is by learning how to regulate our nervous system and return […]
Celebrity Big Brother is back next week. This is about people who volunteer to be filmed 24/7 in a house they cannot leave – and the rewards are – publicity – more fame – and of course money! But what if you have been trapped in a house that you […]
Adolescence the Netflix Series is very much in the media and questions have even been asked in Parliament about the issues it raises. It is a gritty and thought provoking series about young people, social media, bullying and the tragedy of peer violence which culminates in the murder of a […]
This week marked five years since the first lockdown of the pandemic of 2020. For most people the lockdown was a shocking and difficult experience. Our lives were affectively put on hold and we were very limited in what we could do. Many people felt lonely. For some Survivors of […]
Next week we have our Spring Into The Light Women Survivors Group Psycho-Educational Course starting and we are very excited about the journey this group will take. The ten week topic based course has been running for over 30 years and we have had some excellent feedback from the women […]
This week we are celebrating International Women’s Day. And whilst we can celebrate the incredible strength, resilience, and achievements of women around the world we also need to acknowledge the sad reality that violence against women is still an all too present grim reality for many women. Here in the […]
2-8th March is a week that is focused on ending Domestic and Sexual Violence and is called NO MORE WEEK. Sadly Domestic Violence is very common for women and also for men. You may be concerned about a friend or colleague that you think may be experiencing violence but you […]
And whatever you think about watching soaps you can’t deny that they raise issues that can be trailblazing – gets people talking and sometimes evens changes the way society thinks and acts. Eastenders has not shied away from sexual violence and child abuse which has been really positive in opening […]
The 3rd to the 9th of February is Sexual Violence And Abuse Awareness Week, this week was founded by Yehudis Goldsobel. An incredible Advocate for Survivors. This is a week to focus everyone in the UK to stand with Survivors and raise awareness around issues of Sexual Violence. #ITSNOTOK is […]
We delivered training to the excellent counsellors at Hounslow Youth Counselling Service on Saturday 25th January on Working With Survivors Of Sexual Abuse. The counsellors were so mature engaged and skilled – and it was so heartening to see how committed they are to young people. We had some lovely […]
We are now forming our next Into The Light Women Survivors Group Psycho-Educational Course. Here are some of the benefits of attending: Opportunity of forming deep lasting friendships Here are the details: The times of the course are 7.00 – 8.30 pm Venue: Hybrid. 7 Sessions On Line 3 Session […]
We are so excited!! We are planning our new April Workshop at the moment. This is open to Survivors and their supporters including partners, friends and mental health professionals. The theme and title of the workshop is “Processing Feelings, Power Dynamics and Post Traumatic Growth” A Workshop Looking At Shame, […]