“When Alexis Gonzalez tells her story about overcoming child abuse, she’s surprised by how many people it resonates with. At one event after another in the Central Valley, she’s approached by audience members who can relate. “People would disclose their own abuse and that they had never told anybody,” said Gonzalez, now 21. “People are…
But mental illness is messy and it impacts people in unique ways. While a doctor can estimate the healing time required for a sprained knee ligament, the same cannot be said for a mental illness such as schizophrenia. Each person has a unique experience with mental illness. While two people may share a diagnosis, their…
“Invalidation is triggering. It makes a white hot anger rise up inside. We want to defend ourselves the way we couldn’t when we were young. At the same time, we lean towards self-doubt because we’d all rather believe the abuse didn’t happen at all. Invalidation makes healing slow down and we feel like we don’t…
“They might find out now and that is OK. I am sharing my story because my desire to help someone stay one more day by letting them know they are not alone outweighs any fear of what someone might think if they know I’m not perfect. So let them find out. I am still the…
But healing and overcoming is possible.
“What kind of relief is affordable, efficient, effective and nontoxic? The answer is touch. Hugs and other forms of non-sexual physical soothing, such as hand-holding and head-stroking, intervene at the physical level to help the brain and the body calm down from overwhelming states of anxiety, panic and shame.” Sadly, for many survivors of sexual…
