19 Sep Practical Tips for Healing and Dating After Sexual Assault
Practical Tips for Dating After Sexual Assault
Sexual assault can leave you feeling vulnerable, lacking confidence, anxious, angry, distrustful of others, and sometimes even yourself. However you are not your experiences or your trauma, and healing is possible.
When you feel ready to start dating after sexual assault, these steps can help you feel safer and more empowered:
- Go at your own pace – there’s no timeline for healing. Move slowly and only when it feels right.
- Communicate openly – share your boundaries with potential partners. You don’t have to share your whole story, just what matters for your safety and comfort.
- Choose safe spaces – meet in public places for a first date and let a trusted friend know where you’ll be and who you will be with.
- Notice red and green flags – pay attention to how your body feels around someone. Do you feel calm, respected, and heard, or pressured and uneasy?
- Practice grounding techniques – breathing, EFT tapping, or visualisation can help if you feel triggered.
- Seek trauma-informed support – therapy, hypnotherapy, or inner-child healing can reduce fear, rebuild confidence, and help you process emotions safely.
Healing Tools That Support Survivors
Dating after sexual assault isn’t just about “getting back out there.” It’s about reconnecting with yourself first. Approaches I use with clients include:
- Hypnotherapy to heal trauma and rebuild confidence and self-worth.
- EFT tapping to calm the nervous system and reduce emotional triggers.
- Inner-child healing to gently process past experiences and release shame.
- Emotional regulation practices to manage anxiety and regain control when dating feels overwhelming.
These tools create the strong foundation you need to approach dating with confidence and self-trust.
Moving Forward with Hope
Dating after sexual assault is possible. It doesn’t mean ignoring what happened or pretending it didn’t shape you it means reclaiming your right to love, intimacy, and joy, on your terms.
If you’d like personalised support, I offer 1:1 Sessions in Hypnotherapy, EFT, and Emotional Regulation both online and in person, to help survivors heal and create the relationships they deserve.
You are not broken. You are healing. And your future relationships can be safe, respectful, and fulfilling.
More on dating here my blog on signs of stalker behaviour https://rebeccadakin.com/
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Recommended reading, and workbook Life After Trauma: https://amzn.to/42nL0lN