Sexual abuse can affect your trust in yourself and in your partners especially if the perpetrator was someone you had a relationship with.
You are often consumed with thoughts of wonder about whether or not this person will be like the last one.
It keeps you unsettled, uncomfortable, and unfulfilled.
It manifest itself in many ways.
For some, it can make you get clingy to your new partner.
For others, you may feel emotionally detached from your current partner and the relationship.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for helping you to deal with sexual trauma, but hopefully these tips will help.
TIP 1: Do not keep it to yourself. Reach out to someone you trust, someone that will understand, and empathize without judging you. You might want to start with referring to people with whom have kept your secrets in the past. You want to consider people who have shown you that they can be supportive, without judgment. You might also want to choose someone who is familiar with abuse and/or social injustice issues. It will help you free your mind and put things in proper perspective.
TIP 2: Volunteer to help others. There is no better way to heal than helping others to heal. You can volunteer to help other women who face the same trauma. You can write about it in order to inspire others. You can also reach out to others in similar situations. Their experiences can also be used as a source of strength for you.
TIP 3: Join a support group. You will be amazed at the number of women who have been sexually abused. You will see that some experiences remind you of yours. Some experiences may even seem worse than yours. These survivors can come together to share their stories and provide support for one another and you can also reap the benefits.
TIP 4: Choose to make good choices. Choose to not be defined by your traumatic experience. What happened does not define who you are, nor is it your fault. Therefore, be intentional about choosing positive friendships, relationships, environments and thinking patterns over negative ones that are influenced by your sexual assault.
TIP 5: Socialize. Never forget that you are worthy irrespective of the past traumatic event in your life. Try to avoid the temptation to become isolated as you will get consumed in unhealthy thoughts. Re-establish your connections with friends and relatives and form new and interesting contacts with people who share the same passion as you.
Having a healthy relationship After experiencing a sexual assault can be challenging. However, it is not impossible. If you or someone that you know would like to consider do some work on learning ways to have a healthy relationship after a sexual assault, contact us at Tech Talk Therapy. We can be reached at 844 MY TECH TALK.