Healing Childhood Sexual Abuse | Incest
by Christina Enevoldsen When I was seven, I started classes in preparation for my First Communion. In the Catholic church, Communion is an expression of unity with Christ. Girls dress up like brides in white dresses and veils, symbolizing their purity. While planning for the day, I insisted to my mother that I couldn’t wear white. I absolutely refused. Reluctantly,Read more
by Christina Enevoldsen When I started writing publicly about my healing from sexual abuse, I did it to validate my own history and journey and to inspire hope in other survivors. It’s been wonderfully empowering to record my triumphs and to share the process with thousands of fellow journeyers. However, being so public about such intimate feelings and experiences hasRead more
by Christina Enevoldsen I was twenty-two. I’d been married five years when I confessed to my husband that I’d been having an affair. While he decided if he wanted to stay with me, I went to stay with my parents. The day I arrived to my parents’ house, I sat in one corner of their living room while my momRead more
by Gordon DeLand I have been silenced, me and my trouble. I first silenced myself in shame, not even knowing exactly why, but somehow… it was wrong, what had just happened. And I knew it. I looked for a friend but got something else. The trust I had put in him had been violated, shattered. I was pretty sure itRead more
by Jennifer Stuck When I first started opening up about my childhood sexual abuse, I felt like I was carrying a deep dark secret that made me different from other survivors. It was the part of my story I always skipped over when talking about my abuse—something I could barely admit to myself, let alone anyone else. It was theRead more
by Linda Pittman People used to tell me I was pretty but I never believed it. I always felt like they had an ulterior motive. I thought they said those things so that they could use me or because they pitied me or were being kind. I was wary, suspicious, and distant. I did not like to look atRead more
by Christina Enevoldsen As the co-founder of a site that deals with healing from abuse, I’m supposed to be very enthusiastic about healing. I’m the one who yells “Hooray!” for those small victories and I spur on the weary survivor. Most of the time, I love that. I do it whole-heartedly. But what happens when I’m the weary survivor? WhatRead more
by Linda Pittman Throughout my healing journey from childhood sexual abuse, I have heard a lot about the need for “healthy boundaries”. How do I know if my boundaries are healthy? What are they and how do I measure mine? How do my boundaries compare with someone who has not been sexually abused? These were baffling ideas and questions. AsRead more
by Jennifer Stuck When I was four years old, some members of my family found me being abused. Their normally loving faces turned cold. I came to believe I had to hide what was happening to me. Even more than that, I thought I needed to hide who I was. I thought people only liked the fake me and theRead more
by Linda Pittman When I first met my husband, I was keeping a big secret—the story of my childhood sexual abuse. I couldn’t tell him until I felt safe and sure of his love—if that was possible. He is a good man, gentle, kind, intensely loyal and trustworthy. Sometimes it is still hard to believe that I have such aRead more