Today, reflection on the uniqueness of each survivor’s experience. We live in a time when Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) like Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) are researched and better understood. I find this validating of my childhood experiences. It is reassuring, in a strange but confirmatory way, to read a research paper that identifies the physicalContinue reading “Your Experience Matters”
Category Archives: #Breakthesilence
Justice
Today, thoughts about what justice means for Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) and other Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE.) There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor, author, professor, activist, Nobel Peace Prize recipient I amContinue reading “Justice”
Release
Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on. Eckhart Tolle Today, encouragement to let go. Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a triumph! Yet, years later I feel my jaw clench and my shoulder muscles tighten as I brace for a blow to my sense of safety.Continue reading “Release”
Learning
Learning new things is easy when there is no unlearning involved. Edgar Schein Today, recognition that we sometimes need to unlearn before we can learn. Survivors of Adverse Childhood Events (ACE) receive distorted messages of how they can expect to be treated by others. Abused and neglected children often live with toxic stress. Without aContinue reading “Learning”
Solitude
Today, encouragement to distinguish healthy solitude from isolation. Solitude vivifies, isolation kills. Joseph Roux Shame. Like a weed it strangles positive thoughts and emotions. For children who experience Adverse Childhood Events (ACE), like Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA), shame becomes the defining emotion. Shame creates a sense of isolation. The shame experienced by a child livingContinue reading “Solitude”
Boundaries
Today, encouragement to set healthy boundaries. No is a complete sentence. Anne Lamont I remember reading early in my healing journey that adult survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse are more likely than others to be sexually promiscuous. The sense I made of this sobering statistic is that as abuse survivors we must learn that weContinue reading “Boundaries”
Visibility
Today, an acknowledgement of you sister and brother survivors! In the 1980’s when I started to search for any publication that reflected my experiences as a survivor of Childhood Sexual Abuse, I ran into the brick wall of the unintended consequences of statistics. Since the greatest reporting of CSA at that time was male perpetratedContinue reading “Visibility”
Be Brave, Break the Silence
It’s a moment of choice. A moment when doing nothing is no longer tolerable. An awareness that keeping the secret of sexual abuse becomes too costly and more dangerous than breaking the silence. We each have our moment when we might make this choice. It’s a powerful, liberating and personal choice that can change theContinue reading “Be Brave, Break the Silence”
Daily dose of encouragement 