CSA Survivors and Grounding 

Written by: Victoria Kong, she/her/hers pronouns, (OCD), Diploma for Social Service Worker, Practicum Student, The Gatehouse.   

Adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) experience long-term effects in areas such as their emotional well-being and mental health. They could often experience emotional distress such as greater anxiety and fear. Long-term effects include depression, anxiety, low esteem, more likely to engage in dissociation, and self-destructive behaviors such as substance abuse and self-harm (Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse, Figure 1: CSA victim and survivor outcome areas with example outcomes).  

There are multiple strategies or techniques an individual can engage in to allow a person to cope and manage their emotions and traumatic memories. For CSA survivors, therapeutic grounding techniques are important for managing those overwhelming feelings and flashbacks. This can be achieved by providing distraction utilizing their five senses (Caporuscio, 2020).  

These therapeutic grounding techniques using the 5 senses can be (Raypole, 2019): 

  1. Putting your hands in water. Focus and pay attention to the temperature of the water and the sensation of the water at different areas of your hand. 
  1. Pick up or touch items that around you. For example, do you have a soft blanket? Think about it’s physical attributes such as what are the colors of your blanket.  
  1. Breathing techniques require inhaling and exhaling in slow intervals.  
  1. Savor food or drinks. Take the time to enjoy your food and beverages. Focus on the texture, the taste, and smell.  
  1. Listening to your surroundings. Take the time to slowly listen to the environment around you.  

References: 

Caporuscio, J. (2020, March 31). Grounding techniques: Step-by-step guide and methods . Medical News Today, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/grounding-techniques). 

Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse.  (n.d.). The Impacts of Child Sexual Abuse: A Rapid Evidence Assessment. https://www.iicsa.org.uk/reports-recommendations/publications/research/impacts-csa/research-findings/1-impacts-csa-victims-and-survivors 

Raypole, C. (2019, May 24). 30 Grounding Techniques to Quiet Distressing Thoughts. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/grounding-techniques#mental-techniques