Victims of rape often suffer from symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as well as depression, addiction and other emotional problems.

In this new handbook, an expert in the treatment of PTSD helps rape victims cope with the reality of the experience and deal with the aftermath of conflicting and debilitating feelings. Recovery begins by establishing a safety plan that includes what to expect from recovery, and an understanding of how to treat your self during recovery. Learn how to develop a community and supportive network to assist you during the journey and cope with the anxiety and anger that often arise during this process. Understand how sexual assault can affect many aspects of life. Shatter myths about sexual assault and examine how the experience can change relationships. The final part of the book facilitates the mental reconstruction of the assault to diffuse its emotional power. Counter irrational beliefs, find inner reserves of strength and energy, and regain personal power....

This is the first book to guide trauma survivors through the healing process one step at a time. It helps readers cope with memories and emotions, explains secondary wounding, and identifies the triggers that reactivate traumatic stress. Written for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their families....

To write about the combat veteran is to write about fortitude, dedication and selflessness, and about experiences unfathomable to those who have never known the indescribable horrors of war. To write about you the veteran s spouse or partner is to write about another kind of loyalty and perseverance and yet another kind of pain and sadness. The trauma of war can affect not only the warriors, but their partners and children as well. Often it is you, the veteran s partner, who helps sustain the veteran during his or her depressions, anxiety attacks, and post-traumatic reactions. It may also be you, and perhaps you alone, who has sustained your veteran s will to live during his or her most anguished moments. Unfortunately, some veterans vent their anger (at themselves or at others whom they felt betrayed them) on the people they love and who love them the most their partners and children. The purpose of this book is to help you (and your veteran) better understand combat trauma and its possible effects on intimate relationships and family life and to guide you to resources that can help strengthen every member of your family. The beginning chapters provide basic information about combat trauma and how it can lead to depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other forms of emotional pain. The remaining chapters focus on some of the most common problems confronting families of combat veterans: emotional numbing, sexual difficulties, anger, and guilt. There are also chapters on family violence, children, women veterans, and military couples and sections on how to cope with anger and depression, how to find helpful organizations and books, and how to communicate effectively on difficult issues. In addition to describing the tensions that can result from combat trauma, this book emphasizes the many ways a veteran s war experiences can help enrich individual family members and the family as a whole. Just as one part of your family cannot suffer without that suf...