Journal Prompts: Healing Sexual Assault & Rape
This is a list of journal prompts to assist with episode 46: Healing Sexual Trauma: Recovering from Sexual Assault & Rape through Healing One Layer at a Time.
Journal Prompts:
How are you feeling today? List 3 emotions you are feeling right now. One way to begin to connect with yourself is to begin identifying how you feel throughout the day. Many people are disconnected from themselves and are not actually aware of all the feelings they have throughout the day.
How does it feel in your body to think about your sexual assault? Does it feel heavy? Tight? Anxiety inducing? Do you feel a sensation in a specific spot in your body? Stomach? Back? Heart? Allow yourself to journal about the feelings and sensations that arise in your body when you think about this experience.
How do you feel about the person who sexually assaulted you? I have found the answer to this question can differ by day. Are you angry? Heartbroken? Hurt? Scared? Allow yourself to free write about how you feel about this person. Do not censor yourself. You likely have a lot of feelings, so allow yourself to release these feelings out on the paper. You are not a bad person if you have really horrible things to say about this person, so write whatever you feel.
If you know the person, what is your current relationship with the person who sexually assaulted you? Have you seen them since? Are they still a part of your life or friend group? Allow yourself to explore how you feel about this relationship. Are there any boundaries or steps that need to be taken for you to feel safe moving forward?
Write a letter to yourself at the age you were when you were sexually assaulted or experienced sexual trauma. Allow yourself to say everything you wish someone had said to you when you were first moving through this experience. I then invite you to write back to yourself as this younger version of yourself. See if this younger you has anything they’d like to say.
I invite you to write about how strong you are. Many survivors do not feel strong, but that could not be farther from the truth. You are incredibly strong for being here and for continuing to heal. Healing from sexual trauma takes bravery and courage. Spend time honoring your strength through journaling.
Allow yourself to free write about your sexual assault / sexual trauma. If it feels too scary to revisit this experience, then allow yourself to write about before the incident, after the incident, or any emotions that are arising instead. Allowing yourself to journal about what is present with you will help you to continue processing this trauma. Many survivors bottle up the experience and the trauma continues to impact them in the present. Allow yourself to start exploring the incident one layer at a time.
If you haven’t already, listen to Episode 46: Healing Sexual Trauma: Recovering from Sexual Assault & Rape through Healing One Layer at a Time. I advise you listen to the intro where I discuss how my body showed me one layer at a time, I did not dive into the whole experience at once.
If you are still unsure of where to start, just write about whatever is present with you right now. Part of the healing journey is learning to unpack one layer at a time, and usually whatever is present with us is the layer that wants to be revisited in the now.
Has this experience affected your ability to trust people? Explore this.
Has this experience affected your ability to trust yourself? Explore this.
Are you carrying any blame for the sexual assault or sexual trauma? Or is there any part that you blame yourself for (Ex: If I had just gone home early or if I had just taken a different route home). It is not your fault that you were assaulted, but many survivors carry the blame as a way to cope with something so painful. Allow yourself to be with yourself and explore if you hold onto any self-blame.
If you do hold onto blame, can you begin to assure yourself that this was not your fault? This often doesn’t happen overnight, but is a process that happens as we revisit and release the trauma of the past. This can be as simple as writing down over and over “It was not my fault.” (And let me reassure you, it was not your fault.)
What kind words can you offer yourself today? Write down a few ways that you can be consistently kind and loving with yourself throughout your healing journey. new view advice
