Hope for Healing
Understanding Dissociation
While it is difficult to comprehend, the victim of severe trauma has no control over the dissociation. It is a safety mechanism our brains have developed to preserve us during impossible circumstances. Often, the victim is unaware of the dissociation until they are in a safe space (both physically and emotionally) to deal with the trauma.
Peace in the Storms
Sometimes life can explode on us, like the hurricane winds ripping through a once peaceful sea. It is difficult to find peace in the storm when pelting rain and blackened skies blind us to the safe port that once guided our journey. However, whatever the traumas we face, the journey is worth continuing.
Freedom in Sharing
There is freedom in sharing our stories, our burdens, and triumphs along the way. With sharing, newfound strength can help us navigate the future.
It is NEVER Too Late
Regardless of the pain we are forced to face or the depression or anxiety that threaten to consume our souls, there is joy ahead. Hold on, hope on, and find strength in knowing you are worth it.
Pity or Compassion
Pity or feeling sorry for someone who is suffering tends to focus on the horror. It can blind us to the person behind the barrier. It can look like you don’t believe they can ever overcome the trauma. Compassion focuses on the victim’s capabilities rather than brokenness. Helping a victim isn’t about reaching down, but…
How Abuse Skews Our Identity
Abuse skews our identity, but doesn’t change it. We can choose to stay in the muck of the pain and anguish or we can choose to own our lives and discover nurture our true identities.
Effects of Abuse: the Silent Killer
Abuse-a silent killer. Even if a victim survives physically, the effects of abuse can slowly kill the will to live. But healing is possible.
Behind the Fortress
Opening the gate allows the healing of my heart. It allows the kindnesses, compassion, and even good intentions of others to permeate my walls of protection. It strengthens my foundation. Life behind the fortress is no longer dark and lonely.
Available Now!
Miracles in the Dark: How a Childhood Cult and Abuse Survivor Reclaimed the Light is a compelling and raw story of overcoming the trauma of childhood abuse and finding hope and healing
Giving It Forward–An invitation
In loving memory of my sister, Jerri Lynn, who fought many life battles, I am starting a Giving It Forward campaign. This is not a fundraiser, it’s more of an awareness-raiser. It is about connection, reaching out, and believing. It’s about being real and being open-hearted. There are as many ways of giving it forward…
With God Nothing is Impossible
While I may always experience lingering effects of the abuse, the abuse and the disorders they caused no longer define me. They are only a small part of the whole. Choosing to believe “that a Power greater than ourselves could restore [me] to sanity” has made all the difference.
The Gift: Peace
Peace on Earth has more to do with the heart than with the circumstances of our lives. Sometimes the peace comes after the trial.
The Gift: Pausing at the Parting of the Waters
Sometimes, the waves of pain and grief try to pull us under. Pausing at the parting of the waters can give us the strength to move forward.
Is it Gratitude or Blinders?
Thanksgiving is a time for gratitude, but sometimes accentuating the positive can be a way of masking truths we don’t want to look at. So, the question I’m asking myself is, “Is it gratitude or blinders?” Blinders Blinders are leather pieces that are placed on either side of a horse’s head next to its eyes….
Learning to Let It Be Healed
“Let it, rather, be healed.” (Hebrews 12:13 KJV) A simple statement, but sometimes a difficult journey. I’ve always hated feeling stuck. I don’t like limitations. But, navigating the pain and intense fear that is a result of childhood abuse, is a long and arduous process. It is difficult to let go of the fear and…
Exploring the Mystery of Faith
Recently, a friend asked, “What is this mystery of faith you all talk about?” We are both part of a group of friends that are working our way through healing from PTSD. Some members of the group talk about how prayer and believing in Jesus Christ help them on their journey. This man was horribly…
Strength in the Spirit-Body Connection
Since the time I was a child, I have viewed my body and spirit as separate entities. The spirit-body connection alluded me. As an adult I have come to understand intellectually the inherent connectedness of the two. But the severe sexual abuse I endured as a child has made it difficult to internalize the truths…
Disabling Emotional Triggers
The trouble with PTSD is how just when you think you’re on a good path and doing fine, something along the way triggers old emotion and you find yourself suddenly in a pit with no way out. Finding light in the darkness and disabling emotional triggers seems impossible. Panic ensues and you feel powerless to…
Can I Cry Now?
Can I cry now? is a question that haunts me. Stuffed inside my brain is the notion that I shouldn’t feel sad, angry, anxious, or scared. If I was truly “good enough”, I would only feel positive emotions and expected to be in a constant state of Nirvana. I am a prisoner of the belief…
Moving from “Why?” to “What now?”
Growing up, I was the shaky sort—not sure of myself and often feeling the outcast. A dark cloud hung in my heart, keeping my true self somewhere beyond the shadows of fear and anxiety. I searched for a light strong enough to counter the dark. Relief came in the Light I found in Jesus Christ….
Facing the Dragon
“Wow! Look at that sunset” our friend belted with his usual over-the-top enthusiasm. I sat quietly looking out over the mountains. The flaming colors of the clouds billowed in defiance of the setting sun, but the scene didn’t permeate anything deeper in me than an intellectual acknowledgment of its beauty. It’s not that I never…
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