News & Events
Live to Tell and Tell to live Booklet
This booklet has been written by young people, aged 16-25 years old, who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. The booklet is offered for other young people, around the same age bracket, who have also experienced childhood sexual abuse.
The young people involved in the design and content of this booklet are or have been attending Kingdom Abuse Survivors Project in Fife, and it is their courage, determination and great generosity that has brought about this booklet. It is a very important contribution that the young people have offered, finding the words that other young people may not be able to find for themselves, and so we hope that the booklet really helps you.
We have called it Live to tell, and tell to live for very clear reasons. At KASP we very much believe that people can be SURVIVORS of childhood sexual abuse, and Live to tell reflects how people can survive and live beyond childhood sexual abuse, and go on to tell, if they choose to. However, some young people also explain that in order for them to find their childhood in a different way, to adjust to their experiences and build a life for themselves that can be happy and successful, the key to all of this is to tell their stories, in order to live through them. So, it is important for the young people to tell in order to live.
Download - Live to Tell Booklet
The Young People’s Project
The Young People’s Project is funded to support both males and females (aged 16-25), who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. The service is offered by two qualified counsellors who have experience of working with the issues young people face in today’s world, as well as the impact childhood sexual abuse (C.S.A.) can have.
Contact with the Young People’s workers can vary-you may wish to begin face to face counselling straight away. Alternatively you may wish to be supported on the telephone. You may wish to use MSN (A counsellor is available most Tuesday mornings between 10 and 11 and again on Friday mornings) or you may wish to be counselled on line.
At Kasp, we are aware that approaching someone to talk about the abuse you have suffered (Disclosure) is a huge step and one that you do not take lightly.
Some of the difficulties you may have faced will be listed below.
• Fear • Depression • Anxiety • Self destructive behaviours • Low self esteem • Low self confidence • Feelings of confusion • Nightmares • Flashbacks (unbidden traumatic memories) • Hostility • Phobias • Anti social behaviour • Self harm • Eating Disorders • Drug misuse • Alcohol misuse • Shame • Unfounded guilt • Inability to trust • Sexual health risk taking • Problems with intimacy
The list goes on and on.
However, at Kasp we believe you can heal from the trauma of C.S.A. even though you will never be able to eradicate the abuse itself.
We will help you to share your story-if you wish to- in an environment which is safe, supportive and non-judgemental. Equally you may wish to deal with the way being sexually abused has impacted on you. You may wish to talk about your relationships - with parents, siblings, boyfriends, girlfriends. You may be curious as to why you behave the way you do in certain situations and why you feel the way you do.
As you progress through your recovery you may learn to care about yourself again. When you were abused you were probably given very negative messages. You may have been taught that your needs came last and that your abuser’s needs were paramount.. Healthy self care varies from person to person –it may mean that you learn to nourish your body, to detox, to rest more often, to replace old unhealthy coping patterns. Recovery takes time. You will not get there overnight, but you can start to be gentle with yourself, to love yourself better, to understand that you have been wounded and that you are in a healing process and that you can be compassionate towards your self.
KASP has counselling rooms in Kirkcaldy and in Cupar. If you wish you can meet with your counsellor out with the project as well.
On this web site there is a young peoples’ forum, where you can post messages to other young survivors. At some point in the future you may want to offer mentoring to another young person who has suffered as you have. It may be that you would like to help another to heal as you have. Here at KASP we are working to raise awareness of C.S.A. We believe that as long as people are forced to remain silent, then C.S.A. will continue. So, please if you think that we can help then give us a call on 01592 644217 (Kirkcaldy) or 01334 655205 (Cupar).