Hey - hello hello today, I'm trying some new things, and I have made a short video of myself talking about the last blog entry. This video is specifically for adult survivors of sexual abuse. 10 Truths for Adult Survivors of Sexual Abuse These are big brave steps for me to put myself out on a video. All disclaimers needed! I'm very new at making simple home-made videos, so there's no fancy tricks, … [Read more...]
10 Truths for Adult Survivors of Sexual Abuse
I've written a fair bit about childhood sexual abuse. Children are young, small, and without resources. Grasping the innocence of those children is easily seen and understood. As adults, trauma survivors can more easily grasp the complex dynamics of being forced into abusive dynamics when still a small, young child. But for some folks, trauma and abuse doesn't stop in childhood. It may have started in childhood, … [Read more...]
SAFETY FIRST: Assessing Safety of Sexual Abuse Survivors
This SAFETY FIRST post is one of the very first posts ever written on Discussing Dissociation, and purposefully so, because of the importance of this topic. This post was recently reblogged by Trauma and Dissociation -- thank you. Having safety in your life is absolutely crucial and critical for healing for dissociative survivors, so it is good to bring this topic back up to the surface again. Be safe everyone -- … [Read more...]
Externalizing Responsibility vs. Internalizing Responsibility
Externalizing Responsibility What an interesting phrase. Externalizing responsibility is when someone fails to accept personal responsibility for the messes they make or for the problems they cause. It is also failing to accept personal responsibility for the situations they find themselves in. Internalizing responsibility is personally taking on the responsibility for what happens (in the past, present, … [Read more...]
The Layers of Halloween Weekend
It’s Halloween weekend. This is a difficult, heavy weekend for a lot of dissociative trauma survivors. I’ll say right upfront – and please hear this clearly -- that it is NOT a difficult or triggery weekend for every DID trauma survivor. To assume that every dissociative survivor has experienced the same kinds of abuse is completely wrong, and I will be the first trauma therapist to say that not everyone … [Read more...]