If you have experienced the trauma of rape or sexual abuse then the Philip Lynott Centre may be able to help you.
It is often seen as a taboo subject for men to speak about, but sexual violence towards men does happen at any stage in a man's life.
You may be trying to push away painful memories about an incident that may of happened in your childhood or you may still be reeling from an event in your recent past. Being in emotional pain or feeling depressed about what has happened to you is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign that you need to talk to someone about your experiences.
The act of speaking to someone who has the time to listen to you is the first step in taking some of the control back in your life. The therapeutic relationship will help you see that you are not alone in your pain and that the feelings that you have are perfectly normal and a natural reaction to what has happened to you.
Counselling will help you put your painful experiences in context and will help you make constructive decisions about the next step.
Our Centre also offers a men's support group. Often sharing your experiences with other people helps to lessen the isolation that these life events put us in. So often speaking about what has happened to us with others helps us to regain some of the control in our lives and will help others see things more clearly too.
Our groups are run by two facilitators and the Centre requests that confidentiality is maintained by all group members.
I'm a-staring out this window
watching the crows fly past
big and black, there's
nowhere Jack
for me to go...
I'm a-looking and
a-watching, feeling
my fears an' hiding my tears
there's nowhere Jack
for me to show
all my fears and tears...
So I's a-looking out this window
and let me show you the way
'cos this here pain does not pay...
I've stopped watching these crows
'cos they told me to go and
have my say and keep
on talking and walking
a very different way...