Trauma victims find comfort at Stillwater retreat

→Forgive yourself for how difficult the recovery process is. This is not like getting over a cold. Recovery from sexual trauma is the most difficult thing you ever will do, and it is so worth it! When people pressure you to "get over it,” don’t feel guilty; they don’t understand this is a wound that can go all the way to the soul.

→Find a way to talk about what happened. Hiding your experience makes it feel like something shameful or something you can’t handle. Little by little, come out of hiding and begin to speak about your experiences.

→Journal. Hand-write (rather than typing) at least 20 minutes a day. Use your journal to fight back against darkness and purge those things onto paper.

→Take good physical care of yourself. It’s hard to re-conceive of yourself as a powerful, worthy person if you are depriving yourself of nurturing. Eat healthy, sleep, take medicines properly, free yourself from abusive relationships and respect your body.

→Seek and study as much information as you can find about your trauma. Find the best books and gather information, because it makes the symptoms of trauma less frightening and more manageable.

To learn more about recovery or to contact Atkinson, go online to www.resurrectionafterrape.org.