Free book: Resurrection After Rape

[Daniel E.]

Free PDF of the book:

Resurrection After Rape: A guide to transforming from victim to survivor

Book Description: "Resurrection After Rape is a deeply-moving, powerful guide for women recovering from rape. What sets this apart from other books on rape is that this one isn't written only by a therapist; it's a collaboration between a therapist (and a male, at that!), and dozens of rape survivors who contribute their insights, journals, and art. Reading this book is like having your own room full of women who have succeeded in rape recovery, all of whom offer their guidance. Issues addressed include shame, depression, substance abuse, self-injury, spirituality, medical care, PTSD, flashbacks, and panic attacks. Contains the journals, art, and stories of dozens of women who have successfully recovered from rape. This is not a book of cliches and superficial suggestions; it acknowledges the real anguish of rape trauma while offering real hope and answers through the first-person narratives of dozens of women who have actually used its methods to recover."


Table of Contents

Amazon reviews


Interview with the author, Matt Atkinson, on Shrink Rap Radio.

From the transcript of the interview:

One of the things that makes rape work so difficult for the survivor is that the rape itself does have meaning. It symbolizes something. It's not just an experience of pain. It's a symbolic wound, also. And, I talk in the book about the three wounds that are brought on by rape, and obviously the first one is physical. The second one is the social wound. You know, the scorn, the humiliation, the blaming, the well-meaning people who say, "Aren't you over it, yet? It's been three months or it's been three years. Shouldn't you be over it? You should just make up your mind to be over it. Just let it go," being mistreated in legal systems. But the third wound, which I think is the most significant one is the internal one; the existential wound, the feeling of being disconnected from life, being alienated, being uniquely different, uniquely cast off from others...

I don't let people fend off the obligations and requirements of good therapy by saying things like, "Don't you see how much this hurts?" You know, "Let me remain delicate. Let me be uniquely wounded so that you ask less of me." I think that part of recovery to becoming a survivor rather than a victim means reclaiming a lot of that power. That's what I want to promote...Because a lot of times the beliefs and the stuck points have to be challenged. They have to be nudged forward into new thinking. That's why I talk about not using your story to protect the status quo of how you function, how you feel and how you live.

Additional resources, such as information for male survivors, spouses, and parents.