I am a therapist in the Student Counselling and Mental Wellbeing Service, working to support students with their studies and their wellbeing. I have twenty years’ experience working in a range of mental health services, with twelve years’ specifically in HE settings. In my other life, I am a researcher in the field of gender-based violence, with a PhD in women’s experiences of victim blame obtained from the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU) in London. Since completing this project, I have been exploring ways to integrate the findings of my research into therapeutic practice and wellbeing services which support survivors of sexual or domestic violence. I have developed a trauma protocol for HE counselling services, created research briefings, and delivered training sessions on creating trauma-informed spaces for Rape Crisis centres, Women’s Aid, police forces in England, and international therapy organisations.

I am particularly interested in the ways that media can be therapeutically meaningful for survivors of gender-based violence. I often incorporate media – films and TV shows, podcasts, social media – into my therapeutic practice and there is some evidence that representations of gender-based violence can help survivors to make sense of their experiences and feel validated (Heller-Nicholas, 2011; Schubart, 2018; Adams, 2021). I have written on this topic, especially the ways that the horror genre can be a fertile area for meaning and catharsis, in its depictions of violence against women and the different ways that survivors are disbelieved and failed by society.

In my PhD research, women said that some media products (soaps, charity adverts, true crime podcasts) were more helpful for them than healthcare or criminal justice services. And yet there is criticism around media depictions of violence, which are often dismissed as being misogynistic, traumatising, or reinforcing harmful myths and stereotypes (e.g., Boyle, 2005).

As survivors often tell us that formal services do not meet their needs – in terms of healing, justice, or validation – we need to explore accessible alternatives which can provide meaningful narratives around catharsis, survival, and thriving. Despite this, the potential benefits of media have not yet been researched. To address this knowledge gap, I am hoping to carry out research into how survivors use media to make sense of their experiences and meet their emotional needs, and how they navigate potentially distressing content. I am applying for fellowships (with the British Academy, The Wellcome Trust, and the Leverhulme Trust) for funding to hold interviews and focus groups with survivors and explore their experiences of films and TV, social media, magazines, adverts, podcasts and other forms of media. I hope that this research will be valuable for survivors – who rarely have space to speak about the topics that are important to them – and will also provide guidance for practice within therapy and counselling, specialist organisations, and healthcare services which support survivors of violence.

Adams, J. (2021) Shame, fear and pain in The Poughkeepsie Tapes. Ghouls Magazine, 22 June 2021. Available:[https://www.ghoulsmagazine.com/articles/shame-fear-and-pain-in-the-poughkeepsie-tapes].

Beddows, A. (2019) Breaking the cycle: Media representations of victim-survivors of child abuse. Discover Society, 02 October 2019. Available:[https://archive.discoversociety.org/2019/10/02/breaking-the-cycle-media-representations-of-victim-survivors-and-child-abuse]

Boyle, K. (2005) Media and Violence, Sage Publications: London,UK.

Heller-Nicholas, A. (2011) Rape Revenge films. McFarland & Co.: London, UK.

Schubart, R. (2018) Mastering Fear. Bloomsbury Academic Press: New York, USA.

a.beddows@napier.ac.uk
www.amybeddows.com

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