Are you Ready?

Anyone who has been a victim of a sexual abuse, particularly if it was ongoing, understands it likely affects everything about who they are, and how they might live the rest of their lives. Different areas of life are affected to varying degrees,  and will manifest uniquely in every survivor.  I have a degree in psychology, but I am not a psychologist.  It is my desire and, the goal of this blog to encourage anyone who has experienced this kind of trauma. In sharing my ongoing journey in health, wellness, and wholeness, I hope that you will find some insight into why you, or someone you love, might struggle. Just as important as insights, are ideas that may help in the restoration of the body, mind and spirit.

People, like myself, who have experienced this type of violation struggle with interpersonal relationships.  We question who we can trust, and with what. The lacking trust is not only toward people that we deem like our abuser(s), but it can be lacking in regard to persons of one gender or another, parents, God and, even whether we can trust ourselves. 

We commonly struggle with our value as a human beings, stemming from being treated as though we were not worth considering. Hope is often elusive.  It isn’t that we never have hope. There are people like myself that have had hope, but my hope was often misplaced.

Body image is something that can haunt a sexual abuse survivor.  The feelings about our physical selves can be few or many and, anywhere from believing that we are ugly, to overcompensating with and overinflated idea of what we look like.  From this there can be issues from anorexia, bulimia, overeating, binging, abuse of diet supplements/drugs, to over exercising and using steroids.   

I don’t know where you are in your journey, and I can’t pretend that I have all the answers. I have learned a lot, and have come a long way. I am a self-proclaimed self-help addict.  Self help is where I started, but it was not the answer to all of my issues stemming from ongoing abuse, coupled with a pretty messed up childhood.  It was merely where I started my journey, and over time I realized that I needed help, a lot of help.  That help came in the form of counseling, both spiritual and psychological, as well as continued education, formal and informal. 

Are you ready to start on your journey to self understanding, compassion, love, forgiveness and healing? It is not easy to shed light on the things that you have hidden away. I want to encourage you to reach out for guidance, as you maneuver the dark corners of your mind.