News & Events

Childhood trauma is increasingly being recognised as the root cause of many mental health difficulties. NAPAC, a national charity which supports adult survivors of child abuse, is regularly is contacted by counsellors, therapists and psychologists seeking advice on how to work with clients who have disclosed childhood abuse. NAPAC has now received CPD Approval for its one-day training course ‘Supporting Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse’ (SASCA) from the British Psychological Society (BPS).

Many would view running a marathon as the ultimate test. But lawyer Jessica Standley is trying to go one – or rather nine better – by running ten marathons to raise vital funds for NAPAC.

Do you work with adults who suffered abuse in childhood or know someone who does? You may have heard about services using a more ‘trauma-informed’ approach to supporting adult survivors, but what does this actually mean in practice?

If you would like to deepen your knowledge and learn more about best practice, then you may be interested in our new five hour e-learning course called ‘Working with Adult Survivors of Child Abuse in a Trauma-Informed Way’.

NAPAC has two new support groups for survivors of child sexual abuse. One of them will be in London, starting on 10 Sept for twelve weeks. There are just 12 places and demand is always high, so potential participants should apply now. Places are free, participants must commit to attending all twelve sessions.

Katie talks about volunteering on our support line and the hardest thing about taking calls:
‘When you have a survivor who has suffered really bad abuse and they are really struggling. Sometimes listening can be really sad and you just want to give them a hug and be there for them and make it all better. When that call has to end, you just want to be there a bit longer.’

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has accredited NAPAC’s Supporting Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse (SASCA) one-day training course.

The SASCA training course is suitable for professionals such as nurses, midwives, safeguarding specialists, police, clinical leads and counsellors who are hearing an increasing number of disclosures from adults who suffered abuse in childhood.

The Home Office has awarded grant funding of £355,670 to the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC), so that it can meet more of the ever-growing demand to its national free telephone support line for adult survivors of child abuse.

Gabrielle Shaw, NAPAC’s CEO, said: ‘Call attempts to our telephone support line have rocketed over the past three years. One of the hardest things for us is knowing that people have plucked up the courage to call and may struggle to get through. This funding will help enormously, by enabling NAPAC to double the number of calls we can take. We took over 6,000 calls last year and had over 94,000 call attempts, so this extra funding is going to make a real difference to survivors.’

Demand has risen steadily over the past three years, from
• 61,666 call attempts in 2015
• 83,449 call attempts in 2016
• 94,161 call attempts in 2017

NAPAC and the National Counselling Society (NCS) today launched a unique new e-learning course called ‘Working with Adult Survivors of Child Abuse in a Trauma-Informed Way’, certified by CPD UK – the CPD certification service.

The course will give counsellors and health or social care professionals the fundamental skills to engage with child abuse survivors in a way that is empowering and guards against re-traumatisation. The e-learning course offers a range of benefits for participants, which include learning about the range of impacts that child abuse has in adulthood, how to handle disclosures with greater confidence and ultimately how to adopt trauma-informed practices.