This page is intended as both a resource for those who need some direction to help them cope with the aftermath of rape or sexual abuse and a forum for those who wish to share the coping strategies that have helped them. In addition to this page, we have a separate page with links to resources (books and web pages) that you may want to use as tools for coping. Sometimes, learning all one can about traumatic experiences and their effects is a good way to help one heal from those experiences.
Home Page
Our List of Coping Strategies:
1. Find a good counselor/therapist who can help you with the healing process.
2. Create a web page designed to help others cope.
Click
here for instructions on linking to this page.
3. Talk with a trusted friend. (It may help to give the friend a
hypothetical situation similar to your own and see how the friend reacts to that before telling the friend that it happened to you.)
4. Write a poem, play, or short story that deals with your experiences. (Remember, you do not have to show this to anyone. Just writing it down can be therapeutic for some people.)
5. Find a chat room for people who have had experiences similar to your own.
6. Write a letter to the perpetrator expressing your pain, anger, hatred, or even forgiveness. (Yes, some people believe that the best way to move beyond the pain is to express forgiveness even when there are no real feelings backing it up. The feelings may come later, but the act of forgiving can help some people to heal) (We recommend that you do not actually send this letter, as it may only serve as ammunition that the perp might try to use against you).
Click
here to submit a letter to the perpetrator to be published on this site.
7. Pray. God listens, even when we are having a difficult time believing. He can also take it when you are angry with him. You aren't going to hurt His feelings if you express how you really feel.
8. Exercise. Sometimes the best way to cope is to rid oneself of
excess energy associated with the stress of coping.
9. Divert your attention from it by watching a movie, playing a game, going
for a drive, or whatever it is you do for fun.
10. Decide whether reporting the incident will help you, and report it if you think it will help you. (I understand that this is a difficult step to take; there are many reasons why a survivor would not want to make a statement to the authorities. There are also many reasons why one might feel like one should report it. You will have to weigh your options and make a decision based on your own feelings.)
Others' Coping Strategies:
