“Your past pain is not a permanent prophecy. Your heart's fate isn't written in the scars.” — John Mark Green Copy Share Image
“Survivors of abuse show us the strength of their personal spirit every time they smile.” — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Honoring all ways we survived our childhood abuse is healing. We were amazing and courageous.” — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“I'm a survivor. And I say this with so much pride I could burst into a million tiny pieces at your feet.” — Trish Kaye Lleone Copy Share Image
“I'm still not sure if I was a victim or not... and if I was, who was my abuser?” — Eskay Teel Copy Share Image
“Grief does not demand pity; It requests acknowledgement" - Jude Gibbs” — Jude Gibbs Copy Share Image
“She could do this. She was stronger now. This was her chance to prove it.” — Talena Winters Copy Share Image
“It is always a mistake to underestimate how long it takes for mankind to understand the traumas it has suffered, especially the… — A.C. Grayling Copy Share Image
“Abuse is never contained to a present moment, it lingers across a person’s lifetime and has pervasive long-term ramifications.” — Lorraine Nilon Copy Share Image
“You’ve already done the hardest part; you survived the trauma. You are much stronger than you think you are.” — Sarah Newman Copy Share Image
“Abuse is never deserved, it is an exploitation of innocence and physical disadvantage, which is perceived as an opportunity by the abuser.” — Lorraine Nilon Copy Share Image
“Survivors are often incredibly aware and perceptive. What was born of necessity becomes a response that is gentle and understanding.” — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“The more I focus my time and energy on withstanding a real life, I am able to overcome and come out victorious.” — Patricia Dsouza Copy Share Image
“The capacity for dissociation enables the young child to exercise their innate life-sustaining need for attachment in spite of the fact that… — Warwick Middleton Copy Share Image
“When you feel at sea in an abyss of emotions, reconnecting to the beauty of your soul can be difficult, but it… — Lorraine Nilon Copy Share Image
“You’re too sensitive’ victims of sexual abuse are told over and over by those whose reality depends on being insensitive. Most adults… — Renee Fredrickson Copy Share Image
“In order to believe clients' accounts of trauma, you need to suspend any pre-conceived notions that you have about what is possible… — Aphrodite Matsakis Copy Share Image
“There is a moment in our healing journey when our denial crumbles; we realize our experience and it's continued effects on us… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Often feelings of shame, powerlessness, and self-hate are bottled up with the memories, and as the memories come through, these feelings do,… — Laura Davis Copy Share Image
“The framing of women’s abuse narratives as quasi-legal testimony encourages the public, as interpreters, to take the stance of cross-examiners who categorize… — Sue Campbell Copy Share Image
“In the weeds of childhood sexual abuse, we are the sturdy flowers that kept reaching for a slip of sunshine and a… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“In addition to reaching out for help, you will also need to reach within yourself. Your biggest ally will be your emotions.… — Beverly Engel Copy Share Image
“I no longer look to my abusers with any expectation– of remorse, or apology or restitution or restoration or relationship. I’m at… — Christina Enevoldsen Copy Share Image
“...repeated trauma in childhood forms and deforms the personality. The child trapped in an abusive environment is faced with formidable tasks of… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
“Deciding to actively heal is terrifying because it means opening up to hope. For many survivors, hope has brought only disappointment. Although… — Ellen Bass Copy Share Image
“Dissociated trauma memories don't reveal themselves like ordinary memories. Like pieces of a puzzle, they escape the primitive part of our brain… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Maybe it's because your mother is always Mom to you, or maybe it's because I was in denial, but finally it hits… — April Daniels Copy Share Image
“There certainly are some women who treat their male partners badly, berating them, calling them names, attempting to control them. The negative… — Lundy Bancroft Copy Share Image
“Several psychologists (L. Armstrong, 1994; Enns, McNeilly, Corkery, & Gilbert, 1995; Herman, 1992; McFarlane & van der Kolk, 1996; Pope & Brown,… — Rachel E. Goldsmith Copy Share Image
“The abuser’s mood changes are especially perplexing. He can be a different person from day to day, or even from hour to… — Lundy Bancroft Copy Share Image
“Her voice is soft and kind. "Danny, do you feel safe at home?" No. There it is. I don't feel safe at… — April Daniels Copy Share Image
“Honor yourself for all the ways you learned to take care of yourself during your abuse ~” — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
