Sexual assault has debilitating effects on a woman’s life. One in six women will experience sexual trauma in her lifetime, making this a critical emotional issue for many of the women who walk through our doors.
Women cope with assault in a variety of destructive ways. Some lash out, self-harm, isolate, or blame themselves for the trauma. Some women turn to addiction to mask their pain and grief, while others use food to control feelings and emotions. Repeated flashbacks of the traumatic event may leave women feeling like the pain will never end, leading to thoughts of ending their life.
When the trauma began in childhood, the mechanisms and lies that a woman created in order to cope have had a much longer time to destroy her ability to live a normal life. In the end, a woman finds her emotional, physical, spiritual and family life utterly devastated by the traumatic event. A woman’s core self is destroyed by sexual assault so that she has lost faith, belief and love in herself.
Brookhaven Retreat nurtures a woman’s emotional core so that she is able to develop the skills to manage crises and rebuild her life. Through a variety of intensive trauma-related and experiential therapies, women repair emotional breakage and, from a place of emotional extinction, rise to live again, emotionally restored and protected.
