HUNDREDS of child abuse victims from the region and beyond are part of one of the largest studies ever carried out into how therapy can help them cope and go on to lead positive lives.

And a North East expert in the field said the results so far were encouraging, in that many victims were able to put the past behind them.

The study funded by the NSPCC at Durham and Bristol universities will evaluate the effectiveness of a therapeutic service designed to help children and young people between the ages of four and 18 who have been sexually abused.

The research includes one of the largest trials of this type of therapy ever to have been carried out.

The three-and-a-half-year NSPCC-funded study will evaluate the effectiveness of ‘Letting the Future In [LTFI]’, a therapeutic intervention designed for children and young people aged between four and 18 years old who have been affected by sexual abuse. The programme, currently offered by 18 NSPCC teams across Britain, uses a range of approaches to help children and young people express themselves including talking, playing and creative activities such as painting, drawing or storytelling.

Participants in the programme are offered up to 20 sessions with a trained social worker or therapist while their parent or carer may have six individual sessions as well as joint sessions with the child.

Professor Simon Hackett, from Durham University’s School of Applied Social Sciences, who has studied numerous abuse victims, said: “The research will provide an invaluable opportunity to learn not just about ‘what works’ for children who have been sexually abused, but also how interventions work.

“It is about listening to them, making them realise they are by no means alone in what they have gone through, and that they aren’t damaged goods.

“Sessions with a trusted adult and a trained therapist are already proving successful by sending out a very clear message to victims of abuse that it is not their fault.”

Prof Hackett said victims often suffer from depression, low self esteem, and have a tendency to self harm. They often go on to abuse drink or drugs. But, he said: “The good news is that the majority, given intervention at the right time, go on to lead positive and happy adult lives.

“I have carried out separate studies into adults who have been abused as children and, while many who do not receive help can be adversely affected throughout their adult lives, the majority go on to live happy and successful lives.”

Data for the study, entitled ‘Evaluation of Letting the Future In’, will be collected from children and their safe carers between April 2013 and February 2015. The report will be completed by June 2015.