Final Thoughts on Best Practices

Throughout the book, the authors have argued that it is important to use a contextual model to consider all of the factors that influence how survivors conceptualize what happened to them, whether or not they disclose the incident to others, and how others respond to their disclosures. It is also imperative that professionals understand how these factors may serve as barriers to survivors seeking and receiving high-quality and affirming services. In light of this, in this chapter, the authors offer more general recommendations for ways formal sources of support can improve their service delivery when working with sexual assault survivors. Overall, there have been recent gains and improvements within the disciplines that serve sexual assault survivors, as well as within society as a whole. Despite this progress, there is still more work to do.