PHYSICAL/EMOTIONAL AND SEXUAL ABUSE

The Problem and Solution for Women

(click here for a printable version)

lives have become unmanageable.

STEP TWO Believe God can restore us to wholeness, and realize this

power can always be trusted to bring healing and wholeness

in our lives.

STEP THREE Make a decision to turn our lives and our wills to the care

of God, realizing we have not always understood His

unconditional love. Choose to believe He does love us, is

worthy of trust, and will help us to understand Him as we

seek His truth.

STEP FOUR Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves,

realizing all wrongs can be forgiven. Renounce the lie that

the abuse was our fault.

STEP FIVE Admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the

exact nature of the wrongs in our lives. This will include

those acts perpetrated against us, as well as those wrongs we

perpetrated against others.

STEP SIX By accepting God’s cleansing, we can renounce our shame.

Now we are ready to have God remove all these character

distortions and defects.

STEP SEVEN Humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings, including our

guilt. We release our fear and submit to Him.

STEP EIGHT Make a list of all persons who have harmed us and become

willing to seek God’s help in forgiving our perpetrators, as

well as forgiving ourselves. Realize we’ve also harmed others

and become willing to make amends to them.

STEP NINE Extend forgiveness to ourselves and to others who have

perpetrated against us, realizing this is an attitude of the

heart, not always confrontation. Make direct amends, asking

forgiveness from those people we have harmed, except when

to do so would injure them or others.

STEP TEN Continue to take personal inventory as new memories and

issues surface. We continue to renounce our shame and guilt,

but when we are wrong, promptly admit it.

STEP ELEVEN Continue to seek God through prayer and meditation to

improve our understanding of His character. Praying for

knowledge of His truth in our lives, His will for us, and

for the power to carry that out.

STEP TWELVE Having a spiritual awakening as we accept God’s love and

healing through these steps, we try to carry His message of

hope to others. Practice these principles as new memories

and issues surface, claiming God’s promise of restoration

and wholeness

1. Keep your sharing focused on your own thoughts and feelings. Limit your

sharing to three to five minutes.

2. There will be NO cross talk. Cross talk is when two individuals engage in

conversation, excluding all others. Each person is free to express his or her

feelings without interruptions.

3. We are here to support one another, not “fix” one another.

4. Anonymity and confidentiality are basic requirements. What is shared in the

group stays in the group. The only exception is when someone threatens to

injure themselves or others.

5. Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered recovery group.

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Accountability Partners:

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