Mental Health Help-Seeking After a Sexual Assault: A Dyadic Study of Sexual Assault Survivors and Informal Support Providers

Abstract

Ample research exists on sexual assault survivors’ formal help-seeking behaviors and its impacts on recovery; however, little research exists on how informal support providers (ISPs; e.g., friends, family, partners) feel about survivor formal help-seeking and/or how these behaviors impact the survivor–ISP relationship. This qualitative, semistructured interview, cross-sectional study examined 28 matched dyadic pairs of survivors and their ISPs discussing formal help-seeking post assault. The majority of survivors sought therapy post assault, and survivors and ISPs discussed the positive impacts of counseling on survivor recovery, but also encountered barriers that delayed/interrupted their care. Some survivors chose not to seek help post assault, which usually negatively impacted their ISPs. This study provides implications for clinical practice around supporting both survivors and their ISP in the formal help-seeking process.