An example of the path to healing being long

I came across this example from the EndCAN website.

Childhood Sexual Abuse: 13 Stages of Healing

As they point out, everyone is different and may go through these stages at a different pace or in a different order.

What I want my readers to pay attention to is that they list 13 stages. Expecting to go from deciding to start to “Resolution” is not going to be a matter of weeks or a few months. The other thing I want to add to what they’ve said is that it’s not a straight path either. I took a long look at their list and identified a couple that I don’t necessarily identify as part of my healing. More importantly, I identified some stages that I went through multiple times.

For example, my decision to heal had to be revisited a few times. Usually, after yet another emergency stage where I had to go back and decide I still wanted to do this.

It took years for me to just get to a calm base, one that is still prone to anxiety and depression, but that I can live and find peace, joy, and happiness with.

I probably still loop back through some of these stages at various times, but it’s not part of my daily life anymore. Take this list as a sign to take your time and give yourself grace for how long it takes while celebrating the small victories along the way, but also know that it’s worth the time and effort. If I can find the peace and calmness that I have now, imperfect as it is, you can too.