Sometimes life throws unexpected challenges your way. On rare occasions, these challenges come in the form of another member of society committing a crime against you. Maybe you’ve been the victim of identity theft or an online scam. Perhaps you are the victim of a violent crime or corporate injustice. Whatever crime has been committed against you, it takes time to heal from the wounds and learn to trust other people again. Here are a few ways you can start to recover from the trauma of crime.

Process it Your Way

Not everyone experiences the same set of events in the same way. Some people can shrug it off, and some people need time to process the memories before moving on. Wherever you land on this spectrum, be patient and kind to yourself. There is no need to rush or delay your personal recovery process. Your reactions and emotions belong to you, and they shouldn’t be dictated by the expectations of others. You might find it useful to talk things through with someone you trust or write down your thoughts in a private journal. Getting your worries outside your mind either by speaking or writing them can have surprisingly effective results.

Seek Professional Help

Depending on the nature and impact of the crime, you might want to consider seeking the help of a professional counsellor or therapist. The embedded anxieties caused by trauma aren’t always easy to decipher by ourselves, so having a trained expert talk with you is a useful and healing way of beginning the recovery process.

Let the Crime Remain in the Past

There isn’t anything you can do to change the past, unfortunately, as much as some people wish. Therefore, it is important to look at your mindset. An important aspect of recovery is learning to appreciate the present moment without fearing for the future or getting stuck in the past. Don’t try to ignore or push down memories of the crime, as this can cause further pain. Accept what happened and focus on the present moment.

However, leaving the past behind isn’t always easy and could take a person time to process and move forward. One thing that makes it difficult to move forward is key visual reminders of what happened. If the crime took place in your own home, for instance, having it cleaned and then perhaps redecorated could help to make it a space that you feel comfortable being in. Don’t feel like you or your loved ones need to do this. Instead, reach out to companies that offer professional cleaning of crime scenes services. This can ease some of theburdens of the victim and help them see the space in a much better light.

Reaching out to experts of any kind to help you leave the past behind can help, whether a counselor, doctor or cleaner.

Build Resilience

It’s one of the hardest parts of recovery, especially if you’re the victim of a recent crime, but building your resilience will help you strengthen yourself against current anxieties and future ones. It’s about developing good thinking habits and core beliefs that guide you in the direction you want to go. Always build on these. Even if you take two steps back, aim to take another one forward. It may take a while, but you will eventually find yourself moving towards a better future.

Find the Good

Although it might seem nearly impossible, coming up with positive outcomes from the crime event can go a long way to helping you recover. Life is a complicated and unpredictable journey where even the negative experiences can provide valuable lessons. Remember that despite being the victim of a crime, you are also someone who overcame a challenge and arrived at the other side with a new perspective. Even if you don’t feel it right now, you are a stronger person than you were yesterday.