Beyond the Basics: Four Survivor-Tested Healing Tips

Hilary Ferguson

Former Survivor Empowerment & Advisory Council member

Voices of Change
1. What Works for Susan Won’t Work for Tameka: Centering Culture in the Fight Against Sexual Violence 
2. Restorative Justice: An Avenue for Healing the “Unhealable”
3. Beyond the Basics: Four Survivor-Tested Healing Tips

This blog was written by former SEAC member Hilary Ferguson. Thank you, Hilary, for being vulnerable and sharing your insights with fellow survivors.

Get Creative!
    • When those annoying, socially unacceptable emotions hit, find creative ways to let it out. For example: make some art (you don’t have to be good at it!), get involved in activism for a cause you’re passionate about, sing at the top of your lungs, or go smash things in a rage room. There is no such thing as, “one size fits all” for healing, so try thinking outside of the box for what might be healing to you.
Forgive your past self.
    • It doesn’t matter how long ago or how old you were since you experienced trauma. Most of us survivors wrestle with feelings of guilt and shame, and it can hold us back in our healing. Let us all as survivors give compassion the younger versions of ourselves that didn’t have a guide through trauma but did their best despite impossible circumstances. Your traumatic experiences were not your fault, then or now.
Stop Comparing
    • We’ve all experienced that urge to compare ourselves to other people. On social media it’s hard not to, but I’m not talking about Instagram pictures of your friends on a glorious white sand beach. I’m talking about the, “Oh wow, they had it way worse than me” comparison. Doing that is a trap that some of us survivors can fall into, but we often don’t talk about it. No matter the amount of trauma that others carry, the pain you feel is just as valid. You deserve as much support and care as any other survivor out there.
Progress Over Perfection
    • Every step of progress is a win, and I recommend celebrating every single one. Alternatively, try not to be be hard on yourself if you have dark days, or days that feel like you’re going backwards in your healing path. Healing isn’t linear, and setbacks are going to happen. This isn’t because you have failed, it just means that you’re human. But, let me point out that even noticing those bad days is a sign that you have been making progress!
Try to focus on one of these strategies this week, and comment below what worked for you. Survivors encouraging other survivors is how we thrive.
"This project was supported by Grant No. 15JOVW-24-GG-00972-MUMU awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.”
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