Recovery
It is possible for women to recover from the damaging effects of incest/childhood sexual abuse.
Recovery begins with the survivor acknowledging she was abused and that her life is affected by what happened, and deciding to do something about it. She then goes through several stages such as remembering, breaking the silence, mourning, dealing with feelings, forgiving and trusting oneself, understanding and using one’s strengths, and forming new relationships.
These stages however can overlap. Often the survivor is likely to move through these stages again and again but in doing so, she will reach a point where she can make deep, lasting changes in her life. Though the memories of abuse do not go away, they lose their debilitating quality and the survivor is able to put the abuse behind her and move on to a more fulfilling life.