Counseling male survivors of sexual assault in the #MeToo era

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in six men has experienced sexual violence at some point in their life, however in the current #MeToo era of empowered and vocal survivors, men may find their experiences fall outside the typical narrative of a female survivor and a male perpetrator. Although men experience negative psychological outcomes due to sexual assault (Peterson, Voller, Polusny, & Murdoch, 2011) they are sometimes perceived as not experiencing distress or actually enjoying their sexually coercive episodes (Smith, Pine, & Hawley, 1988). Men also report barriers to seeking counseling including shame, embarrassment, guilt (Sable, Danis, Mauzy, & Gallagher, 2006) and fear of not being believed (Sable & Mauzy, 2006). The current presentation will provide attendees with knowledge of the prevalence and context of male sexual assault along with discussion of the unique difficulties that male survivors face. Presenters will provide attendees with information to improve their recognition, assessment, and treatment of male survivors. Additionally, the presenters will discuss how empirically-based practices of trauma treatment can be modified and expanded to better support male survivors.