“When we learn to recognize the unique quality of Memory-Dreams, we are empowered. The abused child within us is using them to… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“You can recognize survivors by their creativity. In soulful, insightful, gentle, and nurturing creations, they often express the inner beauty they brought… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“In the same way that the women's movement of the seventies and eighties brought rape and incest into public consciousness, we can… — Carolyn Spring Copy Share Image
“Nobody has ever killed themselves over a broken arm. But every day, thousands of people kill themselves because of a broken heart.… — Oliver Markus Malloy 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
“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
“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
“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
“Most survivors are cope-aholics, people who cope with whatever is thrown at them without reliance on others. They do not seek sympathy… — Renee Fredrickson Copy Share Image
“In healthy development, trust evolves. How do we decide whether to trust? We share a feeling with someone and watch their reaction;… — E. Sue Blume Copy Share Image
“Stop looking for that person you were in the past. She has changed. Look for the person she has grown into. She… — Chris Pepple Copy Share Image
“no recovery from trauma is possible without attending to issues of safety, care for the self, reparative connections to other human beings,… — Janina Fisher Copy Share Image
“Many survivors struggle to believe the abuse happened. They don’t want to believe it. It’s too painful to think about. They don’t… — Laura Davis Copy Share Image
“All people cross the line from childhood to adulthood with a secondhand opinion of who they are. Without any questioning, we take… — Heyward Ewart Copy Share Image
“The damage and invisible scars of emotional abuse are very difficult to heal, because memories are imprinted on our minds and hearts and it… — Dee Brown Copy Share Image
“Kadyn was tearing down walls faster than I could build them. I knew what to expect from men who hit… men who… — K.S. Ruff Copy Share Image
“In a healthy relationship, vulnerability is wonderful. It leads to increased intimacy and closer bonds. When a healthy person realizes that he… — Christina Enevoldsen Copy Share Image
“Once the individual has learned to dissociate in the context of trauma, he or she may subsequently transfer this response to other… — Julie P. Gentile Copy Share Image
“Carla's description was typical of survivors of chronic childhood abuse. Almost always, they deny or minimize the abusive memories. They have to:… — David L. Calof Copy Share Image
“Traumatic events destroy the sustaining bonds between individual and community. Those who have survived learn that their sense of self, of worth,… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
“In this climate of profoundly disrupted relationships the child faces a formidable developmental task. She must find a way to form primary… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
“Dissociation can be interpreted as an “emergency defense,” or a “shut off mechanism.”[6] According to Allen and Smith,[6] it is understood as… — Julie P. Gentile Copy Share Image
“Invalidating someone else is not merely disagreeing with something that the other person said. It is a process in which individuals communicate… — David M. Allen Copy Share Image
“YOUR ABUSIVE PARTNER DOESN’T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH HIS ANGER; HE HAS A PROBLEM WITH YOUR ANGER. One of the basic human… — Lundy Bancroft 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
“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
“We aren't the weeds in the crack of life. We're the strong,amazing flowers that found a way to grow in the most… — Jeanne McElvaney 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
“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
“Stuffing our memories might become familiar over the years, but it requires a mental vigilance that separates us from our inner world.… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“So many moments of potential holiday joy got buried in the pain of our abuse. Now these days offer us a chance… — Jeanne McElvaney 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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“Clairey tasted the bile rising up in her throat, could smell the pathetic fear she was giving off, and they were as… — Tracy Winegar 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
“Throughout my entire miserable childhood I woke at least once a night weeping from overwhelming delight. I did it hungry, I did… — Bob Thurber 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
![“Dissociation can be interpreted as an “emergency defense,” or a “shut off mechanism.”[6] According to Allen and Smith,[6] it is understood as an attempt by the individual to “prevent overwhelming flooding of consciousness at the time of trauma.” It is argued that the individual subconsciously…” quote by Julie P. Gentile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/julie-p-gentile-110085_abuse-survivors_dissociation-can-be-interpreted-as-an-em_2343620.jpg)
