A Recovery Bill of Rights for Trauma Survivors

As a Matter of Personal AUTHORITY,
               You Have the Right ...

...to manage your life according to your own values 
   and judgment

...to direct your recovery, answerable to no one for 
   your goals, effort, or progress

...to gather information to make intelligent decisions 
   about your recovery

...to seek help from a variety of sources, unhindered 
   by demands for exclusivity

...to decline help from anyone without having to justify 
   the decision

...to have faith in your powers of self restoration -- 
   and to seek allies who share it

...to trust allies in healing as much as any adult can trust another, but
   no more

...to be afraid and to avoid what frightens you

...to decide for yourself whether, when, and where to 
   confront your fear

...to learn by experimenting, that is, to make mistakes.







For the Preservation of Personal BOUNDARIES, 
             You Have the Right ...


...to be touched only with your permission, and only in 
   ways that are comfortable

...to choose to speak or remain silent, about any topic 
   or at any moment

...to choose to accept or decline feedback, suggestions, or
   interpretations

...to ask for help in healing, without having to accept help 
   with work, play, or love

...to challenge any crossing of your boundaries

...to take appropriate action to end any trespass that does 
   not cease when challenged.







In the Sphere of Personal COMMUNICATION, 
                You Have the Right ...


...to ask for explanation of communications you do not 
   understand

...to express a contrary view when you do understand 
   and you disagree

...to acknowledge your feelings, without having to 
   justify them as assertions of fact or actions affecting 
   others

...to ask for changes when your needs are not being met

...to speak of your experience, with respect for your 
   doubts and uncertainties

...to resolve doubt without deferring to the views or wishes 
   of anyone.







Specific to the DOMAIN of Psychotherapy, 
               You Have the Right ...



...to hire a therapist or counselor as coach, not boss, 
   of your recovery

...to receive expert and faithful assistance in healing 
   from your therapist

...to be assured that your therapist will refuse to engage 
   in any other relationship with you -- business, social, 
   or sexual -- for life

...to be secure against revelation of anything you have 
   disclosed to your therapist, unless a court of law 
   commands it

...to have your therapist's undivided loyalty in relation 
   to any and all perpetrators, abusers, or oppressors

...to receive informative answers to questions about your 
   condition, your hopes for recovery, the goals and methods 
   of treatment, the therapist's qualifications

...to have a strong interest by your therapist in your 
   safety, with a readiness to use all legal means to 
   neutralize an imminent threat to your life or someone else's

...to have your therapist's commitment to you not depend on 
   your "good behavior," unless criminal activity or ongoing 
   threats to safety are involved

...to know reliably the times of sessions and of your 
   therapist's availability, including, if you so desire, 
   a commitment to work together for a set term

...to telephone your therapist between regular scheduled 
   sessions, in urgent need, and have the call returned within 
   a reasonable time







...to be taught skills that lessen risk of retraumatization:

  (a) containment (reliable temporal/spatial boundaries for recovery
      work);

  (b) systematic relaxation;

  (c) control of attention and imagery (through trance or other
      techniques)

...to reasonable physical comfort during sessions.


© 1995 by Thomas V. Maguire, Ph.D.
 191 King Street, Chappaqua, NY 10514.
     tmaguire@pipeline.com

All rights reserved, except that permission is hereby granted to freely
reproduce and distribute this document, provided that it is reproduced
unaltered in its entirety and distributed free of charge.


Soul's Self-Help Information

Return To Soul's Self-Help