Anxiety, depression, difficulty staying focused, isolation, low self-esteem, fears or phobias, nightmares, post-traumatic stress, flashbacks (remembering the assault), alcohol or substance use/abuse, and thoughts of self-harm, including body mutilation and suicide.
Denial, fear, sadness, embarrassment, detachment, anger, shock, shame, lack of control, confusion, and emotionlessness.
The most important thing to remember is to let the survivor lead the conversation.
Here are some conversation starters:
“It took a lot of courage to tell me about this.”
“Thank you so much for trusting me with your story.”
“I care about you and am here to listen and help in any way I can.”
“This shouldn’t have happened to you, it must be really tough.”
“There are resources available for you for recovery and reporting what happened. Are you ready to talk about that?”
“We don’t have to talk or make a decision about this right now, but would it be okay for me to send you a message with some resources if and when you’d want to look into it?”