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A Recovery Bill of Rights
For Trauma Survivors
Copyright (c) 1995 by Thomas V. Maguire, Ph.D.
191 King Street, Chappaqua, NY 10514.
tmaguire@pipeline.com
All rights reserved, except that permission is hereby granted to freely reproduce and
distribute this document, provided that it is reproduced unaltered in its entirety and distributed free of charge.
For A Printable version, click here |
As a Matter of Personal AUTHORITY, You Have the Right . . .
to manage your life according to your own values and judgment
to direct your recovery, answerable to no one for your goals, effort, or progress
to gather information to make intelligent decisions about your recovery
to seek help from a variety of sources, unhindered by demands for exclusivity
to decline help from anyone without having to justify the decision
to have faith in your powers of self restoration and to seek allies who share it
to trust allies in healing as much as any adult can trust another, but no more
to be afraid and to avoid what frightens you
to decide for yourself whether, when, and where to confront your fear
to learn by experimenting, that is, to make mistakes.
For the Preservation of Personal BOUNDARIES, You Have the Right . . .
to be touched only with your permission, and only in ways that are comfortable
to choose to speak or remain silent, about any topic or at any moment
to choose to accept or decline feedback, suggestions, or interpretations
to ask for help in healing, without having to accept help with work, play, or love
to challenge any crossing of your boundaries
to take appropriate action to end any trespass that does not cease when challenged.
In the Sphere of Personal COMMUNICATION, You Have the Right . . .
to ask for explanation of communications you do not understand
to express a contrary view when you do understand and you disagree
to acknowledge your feelings, without having to justify them as assertions of fact or actions affecting others
to ask for changes when your needs are not being met
to speak of your experience, with respect for your doubts and uncertainties
to resolve doubt without deferring to the views or wishes of anyone.
Specific to the DOMAIN of Psychotherapy, You Have the Right . . .
to hire a therapist or counselor as coach, not boss, of your recovery
to receive expert and faithful assistance in healing from your therapist
to be assured that your therapist will refuse to engage in any other relationship with you --
business, social, or sexual -- for life
to be secure against revelation of anything you have disclosed to your therapist, unless a
court of law commands it
to have your therapist's undivided loyalty in relation to any and all perpetrators, abusers, or oppressors
to receive informative answers to questions about your condition, your hopes for recovery,
the goals and methods of treatment, the therapist's qualifications
.to have a strong interest by your therapist in your safety, with a readiness to use all legal means to
neutralize an imminent threat to your life or someone else's
to have your therapist's commitment to you not depend on your "good behavior," unless
criminal activity or ongoing threats to safety are involved
to know reliably the times of sessions and of your therapist's availability, including,
if you so desire, a commitment to work together for a set term
to telephone your therapist between regular scheduled sessions, in urgent need,
and have the call returned within a reasonable time
to be taught skills that lessen risk of re-traumatization:
(a) containment (reliable temporal/spatial boundaries for recovery work);
(b) systematic relaxation;
(c) control of attention and imagery (through trance or other techniques)
to reasonable physical comfort during sessions.
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