"Now I have left university in a city that I can call home. Which is all thanks to Survive."

“The moment I arrived at university I was terrified as I moved to a new city after being a victim of rape by what was my boyfriend.

After getting accepted into the University of York and starting fresh by moving to York, I thought that the overthinking of what happened would leave me. However, I was constantly on edge of what people thought of me, struggling to sleep at night and afraid to form new relationships at a city that did not yet feel like home. There was a lot of aftermath of anxiety which effected my relationships with others and my confidence was low. I was really worried what others thought of me and was drinking loads to try and forget about the past.

It was my first term at university when I found a website called Survive. Every session allowed me to speak to a counsellor about my personal experiences and how it’s normal to feel the way I felt. They also helped to find ways to distract myself by finding new hobbies to try and making new friends.

Survive allowed me to grow in confidence and understand why it was acceptable to feel the way I felt. Slowly I could see the light at the end of the tunnel as I completed each session on a weekly basis. Able to take it at my own pace.

The counsellor gave me techniques to help me if I felt anxious and how to communicate in a healthy way when forming new relationships for the future . This allowed me to come to terms with how what happened to me was not my fault, and I should not feel ashamed and alone – that I will come back stronger from this.

Thanks to Survive I am now able to form healthy relationships and realise that I am stronger than my perpetrator. I cannot thank Survive enough for helping me through a very difficult time and now that I have left university in a city that I can now call home. Which is all thanks to Survive.”

Names have been changed to protect the identity of the survivor. Images are for illustrative purposes only.