When someone tells me they’ve been sexually assaulted, time seems to pause. What they’re offering isn’t just information — it’s courage, trust, and unfiltered vulnerability. In that moment, I don’t search for the right response. I don’t try to fix it or make sense of it. I simply hold space. I listen. I believe them.

As a licensed professional counselor, I’ve had the honor of sitting with survivors of all ages, each with a different story, but often carrying the same pain: shame, fear, isolation. Sexual assault happens far more often than most people realize. But numbers alone don’t capture the weight of it. What makes it real is the moment someone says, “I’ve never told anyone this before.”

Healing is not linear, but it’s possible

I wish I could tell you that healing is a straight path. It’s not. Survivors often wrestle with flashbacks, anxiety, depression, sleepless nights. They might question their worth, their safety, even their reality. And yet, I’ve also seen extraordinary resilience in therapy sessions where someone learns to breathe again, trust again, hope again.