working with child victims of sexual abuse

[IcingOnTheCake]

How do i go about doing this?

I have been at a crossroads career wise for a long time, i have two small children (3yr old and 8 month old) and today it hit me after reading something what i would actually want to do: Help children who are/have been victims of sexual child abuse.

This stems from me being a victim of child abuse and it has hit a nerve and i want to help.

I have no idea how to go about this though or what qualifications i would need?

I would be very grateful for any information anyone has to help me. Thank you.

It's very difficult esp if you have been a victim yourself as so much dpends on you ability to be able to tolerate extremely painful emotions in other people and not get emotionally involved yourself.
I ended up doing it for a while by default and it still crops up occasionally.
I would have thought the obvious was was to train in play therapy or psychotherapy or as a child counsellor. That's what I want to do long time. You need a degree to train as the first two as it's a post graduate qualification and V expensive. Counselling again I think for children is a postgraduate but am not sure. Could you try and volunteer for Childline or something like that to gain experience and see if you're really cut out for it (I don't mean to sound patronising but not everybody is)
Good luck

Long term I meant. That will teach me to proofread.

you could start by voluntary work with childrens charities. Some of them also run childrens homes. As do the local councils. Frequently the way to get in is by voluntary work and they dont necessarily need you to have qualifications to be a carer.

word of warning - it is very physically emotional and mentally demanding work BUT it does give you a good insight and looks good on the application forms for formal training if thats what you decide to do.

I would do it if your heart is in it, but I'm assuming you've had therapy yourself regarding your own experience?