The Royal College of Psychiatrists has published a new position statement on supporting adults who experienced non-recent child sexual abuse and, alongside it, they have issued an apology. Dr Lade Smith, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, acknowledges that some survivors have experienced avoidable harm within mental health services, including retraumatisation, being unable to access the right support, and receiving treatment that did not adequately understand th
Some people live with pain that doesn’t fully make sense. Pain that moves. Pain that lingers. Pain that flares without a clear cause. They may have been told: “everything looks normal” “there’s nothing medically wrong” “it might be stress” And yet, the pain is real. Very real. The body doesn’t forget what it had to hold When we think about childhood trauma, we often think about memories. What happened.What was said. What we can recall. But trauma isn’t only stored as a story.
Have you ever found yourself in a safe room, with safe people, a life that on paper looks stable, yet still feel on edge? As if something isn't right? Perhaps you still feel that quiet (or loud) sense that something bad is about to happen? If this is you, there is nothing “wrong” with you. Your body is doing exactly what it learned to do. Safety is not just where you are, it’s what your body believes and remembers... We often talk about safety as something external. Where you
Abuse does not begin as a headline. It starts small, excused, minimised, and justified under the language of “discipline.” It begins in silence, behind closed doors, when harm is normalised and a child is taught that pain is acceptable. The law in England and Northern Ireland allows this. That is why I will not stay silent. This week, I joined the NSPCC at Parliament to support their call for Equal Protection for children, a campaign to end the legal defence of “reasonable pu
