Your Story. Your Journey. When you Are Ready to Talk, We are Here to Listen. Resilience Starts Here.
You don’t have to regret your abortion to need emotional support. Sorting through your unresolved feelings—the good, the bad, or the complicated—is the first step toward reclaiming your story, and we’re here to help.
We know that an abortion experience can look a little different to every person. Options Care Center exists to minister to your feelings and listen to your story whenever you feel ready to share it.
We are a safe, non-judgmental, and confidential place where you can process the myriad of emotions you may be feeling after an abortion. We provide one-on-one appointments with advocates who are trained in reflective listening and compassion that help you process your experience with confidence. We meet you where you are and walk alongside you throughout your entire journey.
The Invitation: We offer our 10-week program, Her Choice to Heal, that will help to navigate the pilgrimage to your recovery. It is not easy to talk about your abortion with friends or family who might not understand the complexity of your decision. The stigma, political debate, and misconceptions can also add to the difficulty in reaching out for support.
At Options Care Center, our client advocates listen to YOU and put YOU first. Our goal is to provide you with unbiased support, a listening ear, and resources to help you own your story.
Do you recognize yourself in some of the following questions?
- Do you avoid the subject of abortion, or do you feel guilt, anger, or sorrow when remembering or discussing your own abortion?
- Do you tend to think of your life in terms of “before” and “after” the abortion?
- Do you have lingering feelings of resentment or anger toward people involved in your abortion, such as the baby’s father, your friends, or your parents?
- Have you found yourself either avoiding relationships or becoming overly dependent on them since the abortion? Are you overly protective of any children you have now?
- Have you begun or increased use of drugs or alcohol since the abortion, or do you have disordered eating?
- Have you felt a vague sort of emptiness, a deep sense of loss, or had prolonged periods of depression?
- Do you sometimes have nightmares or flashbacks relating to the abortion?
- Are you concerned about your ability to get pregnant in the future?
What Is Post-Abortion Syndrome(PAS)?
To our hearts, it is a deep, disturbing sense of unrest and regret. A more technical description is a type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that is characterized by the chronic or delayed development of symptoms resulting from impacted emotional reactions to the perceived physical and emotional trauma of abortion.
In other words, long after the abortion, you may develop an emotional or physical reaction; others may have chronic, continuing reactions to the abortion. Four symptoms of PAS are:
- Exposure to or participation in an abortion experience, i.e., the intentional destruction of one’s unborn child, which is perceived as traumatic and beyond the range of usual human experience;
- Uncontrolled negative re-experiencing of the abortion death event, e.g., flashbacks, nightmares, grief, and anniversary reactions;
- Unsuccessful attempts to avoid or deny abortion recollections and emotional pain, which result in reduced responsiveness to others and one’s environment;
- Experiencing associated symptoms not present before the abortion, including guilt about surviving.
This leaves a woman with an inability to:
- Process the fear, anger, sadness, and guilt surrounding her abortion experience,
- Grieve the loss of her baby,
- Come to peace with God, herself, and others involved in the abortion experience.
How Can Options Care Center Help Me After My Abortion Experience?
If you could answer 2 of the above questions or relate to any of the described symptoms of PAS, we invite you to begin a healing journey. You are not alone.
Schedule an appointment today and reclaim YOU. Don’t wait and wonder.
