Healing Childhood Sexual Abuse | Incest
In the last episode, I shared the truths behind those internal and external pressures that keep us locked up with the secrets. I ended with my parents hearing about me speaking out and the certified letter from my mother demanding that I stop. We’ll continue with how I processed her threats, the subsequent lawsuit and how you can better protect yourself from the social and legal consequences of exposing your abuser.
There are internal and external pressures to protect your abuser and keep the secret of sexual abuse and they sometimes come with very real social and legal consequences. I uncover the often hidden attitudes and beliefs that position us as protectors of the secrets and lies as I share my process of speaking out. Then I share how to process those things so you’re free to decide if speaking out is best for you.
Neglect and abuse make it a matter of survival to not only silence your speaking voice but your internal voice. I share the specific reasons it was survival to shut down your voice, the hidden effects of that now, and how to work through the fear of using your voice so you can regain your power.
Healing from abuse requires extra time and energy. While we can’t stop regular life to make room for healing, we can make adjustments to create the space that we deserve. I’ll share the 3 most important ways you can care for yourself as you heal so you’re empowered to move forward.
The effects of abuse are particularly felt in an intimate relationship. I’m joined by my husband, Don Enevoldsen, and we share the specific ways abuse affected our marriage and the healing process, and the insights we gained as we navigated through to create stability and true partnership.
Childhood abuse forces us into a role and story that isn’t our own. If you feel that someone else or some outside force has control over your life, this is how to take back control. You can rewrite your story and create the ending YOU want.
If you’ve started to face your past, you already know that it’s very painful. So many survivors think they have to choose between the extremes of being overwhelmed by pain or else avoiding it. I show you how to instantly feel better without relying on unhealthy coping methods so you can follow through with your commitment to heal.
In childhood abuse, shutting down your inner voice is survival, but in adulthood, it’s dangerous. I share how you silenced your voice in the first place, why it feels so threatening to hear yourself, and how to work through that fear so you can learn to listen to yourself so you’re able to keep yourself safe.
Gaslighting is when someone tries to dismantle your reality by invalidating your thoughts, observations, perceptions, and feelings. Survivors of abuse are particularly vulnerable. I’ll share how to identify gaslighting, how to escape it and then keep yourself safe from it in the future.
As humans, rejection is one of the things we fear the most. Even something as simple as criticism can trigger our fight or flight response. I’ll help you break through the pain and fear of rejection so you can feel accepted, secure and loved.