Sexual shame and healing from sexual abuse with a Biblical w…

Respond to this discussion board. Must be at least 200 words. APA style. Must use both of the scholarly references in this post and Biblical world view. Sexual shame can be a way to separate us from experiencing Gods love. According to Slattery (2018), pornography and sexual shame can be tools that Satan uses to keep people from experiencing the full joy of Jesus. According to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (New American Standard Bible, 1995), the thing we fight against is not this world, but evil spiritual forces. Satan uses distraction, temptation, and trauma to keep us away from Gods plan. Slattery (2018) gives the example of a woman named Ginger who dealt with childhood abuse. It was not Gingers fault to be abused as a child. This is important to emphasize when counseling a client. Oftentimes, the client may feel like they are the ones who are at fault for the abuse that they experienced (Balswick & Balswick, 2019). They need to come to the understanding that it was the person who committed the act that caused this trauma, not the client. Sometimes, the abuse can lead to things such as sexual addiction. For example, Ginger acted out of her pain (Slattery, 2018, p. 100) and became addicted to sex and drugs. The thing that helped her was spending time in the Bible and journaling through her pain. This is a good example of how one can use the Bible to help bring healing. When working in session with a client, I would start by helping them to understand that they are not to blame for what happened to them. This is very important to help with the shame of sexual abuse. To help the client feel comfortable healing, I would need to establish rapport by showing that I am a safe person to trust. This can take time and may involve discussing less sensitive topics first. For homework, I would have the client spend time in the Bible and pray. During this time of praying, I would have the client keep a journal (as Ginger did). In the beginning, the time spent in the Bible may be shorter, such as 10 minutes a day. From there, I would increase the time spent until it is an hour or so (even if this is broken into 30-minute morning and evening increments). It is easy to believe that one is beyond the capability of being redeemed by God. However, the Bible story about the woman who wept on Jesus feet is a beautiful example of how anyone can be redeemed in Jesus (Slattery, 2018). Another thing that I may assign for homework is to have the person look at other parts of their life and see that they are not defined by what happened to them (Balswick & Balswick, 2019). If I can show the client that their identity is not the trauma or abuse, but that they are God’s creation, I can help them work toward rewriting their future. References: Balswick, J.K. & Balswick, J.O. (2019). Authentic human sexuality: An integrated Christian approach (3rd ed). InterVarsity Press. New American Standard Bible. (1995). Thomas Nelson. Slattery, J. (2018). Rethinking sexuality: God’s design and why it matters. Multnomah.