“In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. Secrecy and silence are the perpetrator’s first line of defense. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
“Therapy requires a collaborative working relationship in which both partners act on the basis of their implicit confidence in the value and efficacy of… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
“In situations of captivity the perpetrator becomes the most powerful person in the life of the victim, and the psychology of the victim is… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
Many abused children cling to the hope that growing up will bring escape and freedom. But the personality formed in an environment of coercive control is not well adapted to adult life. The survivor is left with fundamental problems in basic trust, autonomy, and initiative. She approaches the tasks of early adulthood-establishing independence and intimacy-burdened by major impairments in self-care,… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share
The guarantee of safety in a battering relationship can never be based upon a promise from the perpetrator, no matter how heartfelt. Rather, it… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
“Psychological trauma is an affliction of the powerless. At the moment of trauma, the victim is rendered helpless by overwhelming force. When the force is that of nature, we speak of disasters. When the force is that of other human beings, we speak of atrocities. Traumatic events overwhelm the ordinary systems of care that give people a sense of control,… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share
“The vast majority of incest begins years before the earliest conceivable age of consent. p4” — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
The ordinary response to atrocities is to banish them from consciousness. Certain violations of the social compact are too terrible to utter aloud: this… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
“The study of psychological trauma has repeatedly led into realms of the unthinkable and foundered on fundamental questions of belief.” — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
After a traumatic experience, the human system of self-preservation seems to go onto permanent alert, as if the danger might return at any moment. — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
“The horror of incest is not in the sexual act. but in the exploitation of children and the corruption of parental love. p4” — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
“Underlying the attack on psychotherapy, I believe, is a recognition of the potential power of any relationship of witnessing. The consulting room is a privileged space dedicated to memory. Within that space, survivors gain the freedom to know and tell their stories. Even the most private and confidential disclosure of past abuses increases the likelihood of eventual public disclosure. And… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share
“when traumatic events are of human design, those who bear witness are caught in the conflict between victim and perpetrator. All the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander to share the burden of pain. The victim demands… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share
