NINE STEPS FOR SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIMS
Below is the OVERBECOMERS nine-step recovery progress for sexual abuse victims. It is reproduced from pages 122-123 of "Helping Victims of Sexual Abuse" by Lynn Heitritter and Jeanette Vought. The book is a very Biblically-based book and rather intense. This book was more in-depth than any I had ever seen, so it is not a book for those in denial, and is definitely not a book for those who deny that perpetrators of sexual abuse are too often good church-going members or leaders. The discussions in the book on forgiveness were excellent and not your typical useless (and incorrect), uncompassionate religious jargon I have had the displeasure of encountering over my years of recovery!
Step 1: I recognize that I am powerless to heal the damaged emotions resulting from my sexual abuse, and I look to God for the power to make me whole.
Step 2: I acknowledge that God's plan for my life includes victory over the experience of sexual abuse
Step 3: The person who abused me is responsible for the sexual acts committed against me. I will not accept the guilt and shame resulting from those sexual acts.
Step 4: I am looking to God and His Word to find my identity as a worthwhile and loved human being.
Step 5: I am honestly sharing my feelings with God and with at least one other person to help me identify those areas needing cleansing and healing.
Step 6: I am accepting responsibility for my responses to being sexually abused
Step 7: I am willing to accept God's help in the decision and the process of forgiving myself and those who have offended me
Step 8: I am willing to mature in my relationship with God and others.
Step 9: I am willing to be used by God as an instrument of healing and restoration in the lives of others.
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Other internal links on this site that may be helpful or comforting to sexual abuse victims:
Words of Comfort (for abuse victims)
(based on 2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
Depression Helps Page
Diary of Dreams section: God Heals Trauma -- a small collection of my personal testimonies about God's intervention in my life using dreams.