This is a Recovery Bill of Rights copyrighted by Thomas V Maguire. Please read it and print it out for yourself or a loved one to have. And remember to be safe. Please note that this page does not have a background to make it printer friendly for all who wish to use it.

As abuse survivors, many of us forget that we do have rights. So many things were taken from us. Our childhood, our rights, our dignity, our self-esteem. That now we sometimes need to be reminded that we have rights. That now as adults, no one can take that away from us. As you read through all the rights below, try to think of each one and how it applies to your life or how you can begin to make it apply to your life. Feel free to print this off and hang it where you can see and read it everyday. You and everyone inside your inside family is worth remembering the rights you now have and can reclaim.

A RECOVERY BILL OF RIGHTS FOR TRAUMA SURVIVORS
As a matter of Personal Authority, You have the Right...
...to manage your life according to your own values and judgement
...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 exclusitivity
...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 fears
...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 bounderies
...to take appropriate action to end any trespass that does not cease when challenged
In the Sphere of Personal COMMUNICATIONS, You Have the Right..
...to ask for explanation of communications you do not understand
...to express a contrary view when you do understand and 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 view 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 you 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 the risk of retraumatization:
(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

Copyright 1995 by Thomas V Maguire, Ph.D. Email: 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.

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