Addressing trauma - body and mind

Interesting blog post about addressing trauma

“.. How can anyone address trauma without also focusing on the real impact such trauma has on the body? When you speak of rape survivors, abuse survivors, survivors of war - the body is just as important a point of focus as the mind ..”

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Healing Wounds with Words

Excerpts:

“ .. Wounded Souls: A Collection of Poems and Songs, and its companion spoken-word CD (by) Ingrid D. Johnson .. A Winnipeg-based artist .. Johnson’s first book, Little Black Butterfly in Iridescent Sunlight, came out four years ago. According to Ingrid, it was a catalyst for major personal life transformations. This meant honestly confronting friendships and relationships that were unhealthy and manipulative. “I feel my new poems reflect my struggle to forgive and let go of the past, ways the abuse affected my voice and sense of personal boundaries, and my spiritual struggle to overcome all the anger, loss, pain, resentment, bitterness and sadness I felt and expressed in my first book. This new book is more positive. It offers truth, hope, healing and inspiration instead of anger, venom, rage, profanity and bitterness.”

“my love for people who are hurting and lost is also an inspiration to write, and my anger towards people’s ignorance and lack of care for other victims and survivors drives me to speak up for the voiceless. I work with kids in care and [my] sincerest hope is that my words, my life and my story will inspire at least one of them to be a success.”

Ingrid offers the following advice to people who find themselves in sexually abusive situations and relationships: “You are not alone. When you are ready, tell your story and don’t stop telling it until someone listens and helps you to do something good to counteract it. Overcoming sexual abuse begins with surviving — coping — but you have to confront the abuse and learn from its impact on you in order to overcome it before you can help others.”

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Hollywood’s Twisted View of Child Sexual Abuse

An interesting and well-written editorial, worth reading the whole piece. Here is an excerpt:

".. Once again, the adult's self-interest is being used to rationalize treating proven child sex abuse as though it is trivial, as though it leaves no lasting mark on a child's psyche or soul. Hollywood's defense of Polanski is no different than the Catholic Bishops' shifting of child predators from parish to parish. Both are serving reputation and power at the expense of basic child safety. Polanski's girls have been the fodder of the "great artist." What do a few statutory rapes matter, when you have the man who produced "Rosemary's Baby"? .."

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5 Tips for Overcoming the Shame of Family Messages

".. Messages such as “can’t you see how much I’m sacrificing for you” were designed to keep you feeling guilty so you could be controlled more easily. If you had a parent who said that to you, know that it is the job of a loving parent to make sacrifices on behalf of their child to ensure their child’s needs are met. It’s not your job to feel guilty because your parent couldn’t handle the adult responsibilities of parenting and the stress that goes with it .."

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Are There Really Any Survivors?

".. what does it really mean to be a "survivor?" Does it mean a person is free from all the damage done to them at such a young age? No it doesn't. All it really means is they have stopped burying it and denying it and keeping silent about it, and have finally gathered up the courage to speak out against it .."

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