Affirmations for Healing From Sexual Assault and Rape
As a survivor of rape, I wrote these gentle affirmations to support your journey healing from sexual assault and rape. Healing takes time, self-love, and deep compassion. May these words remind you: you are worthy of feeling safe, loved, and powerful.
I am healing everyday. Yes I am.
It is safe for me to be in my body.
I am resilient.
I am brave.
I am stronger than I know.
I honor my healing journey.
I allow myself care and rest.
It is safe for me to feel all my feelings.
I am safe. I am protected.
I am supported in my healing
I am not what happened to me.
I honor and respect my boundaries.
I allow myself space and time to heal.
I love myself deeply.
What happened to me was not my fault.
I am not crazy. I experienced something crazy.
I breathe in love, I exhale fear.
I honor the ebbs and flows of my healing journey.
I deserve to feel happy and free.
I listen to what my body needs.
I go slow when I need to.
I am enough exactly as I am.
I offer myself compassion even when it feels hard.
I allow love and support into my life.
I am healing even when it feels hard.
I deeply love myself.
More Posts by Amanda:
Grounding is a very helpful practice that can support you throughout your healing journey. Grounding refers to techniques that help us reconnect with the present moment, especially when we feel anxious, overwhelmed, or triggered. It’s also useful when negative flashbacks, unwanted memories, or stressful thoughts arise.
As a survivor of rape, I wrote these gentle affirmations to support your journey healing from sexual assault and rape. Healing takes time, self-love, and deep compassion. May these words remind you: you are worthy of feeling safe, loved, and powerful.
Choosing our core values is a way to align our lives with what matters most to us. When we know our core values, we can make decisions that reflect who we are and who we want to become.
“What am I doing with my life?”
My therapist smiles. “You ask this question every week. It’s too big. A life is a long time. It must feel stressful always worrying about this.”
She’s right. It does feel stressful, and also daunting. But then why can’t I let it go?
After that all I could think about was what happened to me when I was a teenager. It was clear I didn’t have a choice anymore. This part of me was not going anywhere. That’s how I found myself talking to a new therapist on a farm. I had chosen equine therapy for two reasons. One, I had heard that working with animals could help me to trust people again. And two, I thought I may be able to skip right over the speaking about the horrible thing that I labeled all my fault, and just ride horses.
I was eighteen, and I would have sworn I was in love.
But, was love supposed to be inconsistent, painful, and confusing? And could I truly love someone else if I didn’t yet love myself?
I started dating my first boyfriend—let’s call him Calvin—when I was a senior in high school.
“Ma’am your bag will not fit in the overhead bins, you’ll have to check it.” Says an indifferent airline employee as I hand her my ticket to get on my flight from Los Angeles to Toronto.
“Are you sure?” I plead.
“Yes. Please step aside.” My palms are sweaty. My voice stammers. I feel a lump in my throat. My breathe becomes more and more shallow. This bag has to fit on this flight.
Why can’t I just let it go? This is a question I find myself pondering recently. I look back on the last seven years, and can see clearly how I lived in an endless loop of triggers, flashbacks, and challenging emotions that I had no idea how to process. I had to find a way to make sense of things that most people won’t even talk about. It was a day-by-day struggle to get to where I am. Now that I feel so much better, I look back and struggle to find the words to describe this healing journey I’ve been on.
Therapy is very helpful for many people on their healing journeys, but finding a great therapist can feel overwhelming. Not all therapists are created equal and they often specialize in different types of trauma/problems and healing modalities.
These are 25 self love affirmations. You can pick one to work with, you can work with them all, or if none of these resonate, begin to think about what you do want to affirm about yourself and write your own!