Matt Carey

Author and speaker

Matt was eight years old when he was targeted by a group of predatory paedophiles who subjected him to 18-months of horrific sexual abuse in the public toilets of local parks and on the sea front of his hometown. He was too ashamed and scared to tell anyone what had happened…not his parents, friends or family.

In his acclaimed book, A Small Boy Smiling, Matt tells a remarkable story of survival and overcoming the trauma, guilt and shame of childhood sexual abuse, teenage alcoholism, sexual anorexia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. His lifelong search for peace, love and healing culminates in personal spiritual awakening and a desire to help other survivors of sexual abuse to discover their own healing.

The book includes a chapter written by Matt’s trauma therapist Sarah Briggs, called Soulful Space: Reflections On My Therapy Work With Matt. Matt invited Sarah to pull back the curtain of client/therapist confidentiality and write a chapter about his therapy sessions with her from the therapist’s perspective.

Since the book was published in 2018, Matt has been busy promoting the book with public talks, and both he and Sarah were invited to discuss the book on BBC 5 Live’s Stephen Nolan show. An article (which presents an overview of Matt’s journey of healing) entitled Trying To Make Sense Of It All, had subsequently been published on the Survivors UK and the National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse (NAASCA) websites.

A link to the radio interview and the articles can be found at www.mattcareybooks.com

For this trauma therapy course, Matt is generously willing to share his insights for counsellors on how they can provide effective therapy for survivors of CSA. The survivor’s voice can be heard, along with validation that recovery takes time but is possible for this client group.

Matt has enjoyed working in the world of entertainment for over twenty years, as a theatre manager, organiser of several prestigious international festivals, and of large-scale community-based cultural projects supporting children and young people.

Please note that the tutor team may vary according to feasibility in relation to the number of enrolled students. The Grove fully intends for the course to be taught as planned. However, sometimes tutor availability may change according to unforeseen circumstances such as but not limited to illness or bereavement. In any such circumstances, The Grove may be required to adjust the tutor schedule at short notice.

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