Someone who has been through any trauma, abuse, illness, or crisis can be considered a victim. Having to deal with the aftermath of the circumstances that are hurtful physically, mentally, and emotionally can be difficult to manage. Without any support, these situations can come out in other negative ways because victimhood is no joke.
Victimhood is defined as “a person who is cheated or deceived, as by his or her own emotions or ignorance, by the dishonesty of others, or by some impersonal agency: a victim of misplaced confidence; the victim of a swindler; a victim of an optical illusion”.
What happens to many people is they experience an uncomfortable and inculpable scenario that affects them tremendously which makes way for endless anger, shame, guilt, depression, or anxiety. Instead of the extensive help they need, they will act out with substance abuse or anything that can help them to numb their pain. Compressing the negativity does mean that it will go away. Compressing the pain just means that eventually, this anguish will come out to make things more distressful than they need to be.
The best thing a victim can do is to work through the painful ordeal and then help others who will go through the same thing. A person may think that they have nothing to offer anybody although they should know that they are an expert with their own story and have a way out if they take the time to put some effort into their healing.
Therapy
Finding the right kind of therapy is important for any regeneration to take place. Pondering on therapeutic choices such as cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR), or animal-assisted therapy (AAT) should be carefully considered when choosing therapy for someone’s specific situation. These therapies, along with a myriad of others, can really help someone to deal with the things that are holding them back like thinking that it was their fault or that maybe they could have done something different to prevent it. Therapy can help an individual to accept what happened as a part of their past and hopefully move forward into a healthy future.
Step work
12-Step programs and other non-secular programs such as Life Ring or SMART Recovery have also been proven to be instrumental in healing a person especially when substance abuse is present and being used as a coping mechanism. These programs are designed to pull out insight from someone who would not otherwise know how to process all the information they have been suppressing for so long.
Being a victim does not mean that you should use that as an excuse for bad behavior. Being a victim gives someone the opportunity to grow from something that was so devastating to something which makes them become an even stronger human being.
Offering a full range of recovery and mental health services, Valiant Living offers “Expanded Recovery” to enrich our clients’ lives in mind, body, and spirit. Through evidence-based therapy options and the endless adventure of Colorado, Valiant fosters connection, encouraging clients to get connected to themselves, their peers, their families, and their higher power. With the power of recovery, clients are restored to full health and experience life-changing healing. Call us today for more information: 303-536-5463
