Ask A Therapist: How Do I Start Dating After Sexual Assault and How To Find a Good Therapist
Dating after sexual assault can be quite complicated for many people, involving a variety of factors to consider. The first step to dating after sexual assault is to identify what feels like the next indicated step for you. The first step to dating after sexual assault is to grant yourself the freedom to be exactly where you are in healing from sexual assault without feeling pressured to change. Finding a good therapist can often feel overwhelming and daunting for many individuals. A good fit therapist should be someone you believe can support you and address your specific needs.
Coping with the Holidays: Skills and Self Care for Trauma Survivors
Togetherness can be fun, joyful, and fulfilling for many people. Yet, for many others, the idea of coming together with certain friends and family can be triggering, isolating, distressing, and anxiety-provoking.
Below, I have outlined core skills to use whenever we think our sensitivity is high.
Radical Acceptance
Mindfulness
Self and Sensory Soothing
Boundaries with people, time, and content.
Therapy, Trauma, and Our Therapist Friends - Interview with Kelsey Harper, Psy.D.
Dr. KELSEY HARPER, Psy.D., is a practicing psychologist, writer, podcaster, and sexual assault survivor with a background in community work and activism. Her unique path to psychology, profound lived experiences, and inherent creativity have given her a vast perspective and razor-sharp discernment when it comes to treating her clients.
10 Assumptions About Survivors
These are assumptions (or beliefs) that we should make an active choice to ascribe to as a way of interacting with survivors that’s actually helpful and effective and truly sees survivorship for what it is. Understanding that survivorship is a very unique experience and the transactions that survivors have with the outside world significantly influence their recovery is crucial. When the environment can hold beliefs about survivors that are more accurate, effective, and true to their experience, we can be more effective at helping survivors, dismantling rape culture, and ending sexual violence altogether.
Sexual Trauma Recovery: Resilience for Survivors
If you are ready to explore sexual trauma recovery and building resilience as a trauma survivor, you need to know your options for trauma healing. This post covers what trauma recovery looks like, who are trauma survivors, and skills to cope with trauma recovery.
