Emily Dworkin, senior fellow in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, specializes in the mental health of sexual assault victims. 

She was interviewed by NPR how how sexual assault victims can recover after an assault.

She said that an important part of self-care is sitting with tough feelings without pushing them away or avoiding things that bring them up, so that they can run their natural course. Dworkin also said that there are effective treatments if the feelings are making it hard to function. First-line options for post-traumatic stress, she said, include prolonged exposure therapy or cognitive processing therapy.