Healing Victims of Sexual Assault Through Transformative Journaling "This is the most essential book on writing practice I know ... Every writing teacher, writing coach, writing workshop or group leader and every person with a history of any kind of trauma needs this book." -Pat Schneider, author of How the Light Gets In and founder of the Amherst Writers & Artists method #1 Best Seller in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Study Aids One in six women is the victim of sexual assault. Using her own hard-won wisdom, author Jen Cross shows how to heal through journaling and personal writing Rape victims and victims of other sexual abuse. Writing Ourselves Whole is a collection of essays and creative writing encouragements for sexual trauma survivors who want to risk writing a different story. Each short chapter offers encouragement, experience, and exercises. A book that could change your life. When you can find language for the stories that are locked inside, you can change your life. Talk therapy can only go so far for the millions of Americans struggling in the aftermath of sexual abuse and sexual assault. Sexual assault survivors can heal themselves. Sexual trauma survivor communities (and their allies) have the capacity to hold and hear one another's stories-we do not have to relegate ourselves solely to the individual isolation of the therapist's office. What You'll Learn Inside Writing Ourselves Whole: How to reconnect with your creative instinct through freewriting How freewriting can help you reclaim the parts of yourself and your history How "restorying" the old myths about sexual trauma survivors can set you free If you have read books such as The Body Keeps the Score, The Artist's Way, Writing Down the Bones, or Writing as a Way of Healing, you will want to read Writing Ourselves Whole. Also try Jen Cross's self-care journal, Write to Restore.

Use Your Words to Heal with This Self-Care Journal Praise for Jen Cross's Writing Ourselves Whole, the companion to this Write to Restore journal. "This is the most essential book on writing practice I know..." Pat Schneider, author of How the Light Gets In and founder of the Amherst Writers & Artists method #1 Bestseller in Gay & Lesbian Studies Jen Cross has worked with sexual trauma survivors for over fifteen years and founded an organization that is devoted to creating spaces for survivors to write and talk about their experiences. A holistic self-care journaling approach to trauma and recovery. Creative writing is increasingly becoming a go-to method for trauma recovery. There is great power in the written word, and even more so when those words are our own. Journaling provides a cathartic release of emotions because it allows us to not only process past experiences but also reflect on how we're feeling in the present moment. In this way, writing is one of the most easily accessible self-care practices. Give voice to what has been silenced. Healing from trauma can be a slow and painful process, especially for sexual trauma survivors, who are often shamed into keeping their experience to themselves. Write to Restore, a companion journal to Jen Cross's book Writing Ourselves Whole, is a space to put the pain on a page, and in doing so, release the hold it has on us and restore our bodies and minds. In this self-help journal find: A 60-day guided journey to healing from your experience Sixteen writing exercises that gently prompt writers deeper into their experiences and into renewal Follow-up readings, additional exercises, and suggested uses for your writing If you've worked through books such as The Body Keeps the Score; The Complex PTSD Workbook; Start Where You Are; Healing the Wounded Heart; or Present, Not Perfect then Write to Restore will provide further support and restoration for your healing process.