Sexual assault is, unfortunately, an incredibly common occurrence around the world as some statistics indicate that a woman is assaulted roughly every minute in the United States alone. While there are several forums and communities, online offering assistance, sexual assault is a situation in which professional guidance is required. You will need professional help in every step of your recovery, from trauma counselling to sexual assault lawyers.
It is essential to take this one fact to heart: you will recover at your own pace, with the right professional help. If you are suffering from any of a multitude of sexuality-related problems, this is entirely natural, and you cannot force your healing process.
Determining The Problem
To start healing, you must be guided by a licenced professional to determine the nature of the difficulty you face with your sexuality. There are some things that you may have never been entirely comfortable with, that are now either much worse or don’t affect you the way they used to. There may be entirely new aspects of your intimate life that have suddenly changed. In other words, any changes to your sexual experiences can be seen as rooted in the trauma of your experience.
Practice Protecting Yourself
Protecting yourself applies to a common consequence of experiencing sexual assault. Becoming more sexually active with no intimacy, in such a way as can perpetuate the emoting challenges you already face. If you believe that you may be at risk of any irresponsible behaviour, you must consult your therapist or counsellor for help.
Be Honest With Your Significant Other
As mentioned, there may be certain things you are no longer comfortable with. Perhaps you are not yet ready for physical intimacy of any sort. It is essential to discuss this with your partner. There may be pre-existing factors in your relationship that would warrant a couple’s session with a specialized therapist. It would be best if you had a foundation of security in the intimacy of your relationship as a platform. Your relationship may also benefit, above and beyond your healing process, from additional guidance.
Understanding Yourself
Another vital step that you need to address with the guidance of a professional is that your responses may seem irrational to you, but are natural byproducts of trauma, which may apply to a sudden inability even to have an intimate conversation.
In more severe cases, you may not even be able to be in the presence of certain people, also when they have no relation to your trauma. You may develop symptoms of OCD, and feel triggered by places and things that you cannot correlate to your experience. This impact is a natural part of healing. The important thing is to address these issues as they arise. Try your best not to let them overwhelm your quality of life by dealing with them.
Not Just Any Professional
Advice your therapist or counsellor may not give you is whether they are the right person for you to be seeing. It is key to your recovery to not jump between different professionals at a whim. Your chosen therapist should leave you feeling as though you are on a positive path to healing.
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