"Research continues to indicate a concerning number of children and
youth, between 60–80%, withhold disclosure until adulthood suggesting
that many children endure prolonged victimization or never receive
necessary intervention." Ramona Alaggia, 2010.
My plan of 6 weeks of counselling, fell apart very quickly.
My plan of 6 weeks of counselling, fell apart very quickly.
It was only when someone had been willing to listen to me that I realised just how much I needed to talk. The first 6 weeks flashed by and we had the review; both my counsellor and myself agreed to continue for as long as I required.
I cannot stress enough just how important it was to my recovery to be in control of how long I needed. So often now counselling is time limited, often JUST 6 weeks. This approach is so dis-empowering, immediately the survivor has the control taken from them and they are once again faced with little or no choice and control.
I know resources are limited, but to ask victims of abuse to open up and reach some level of resolution with such limited interaction is almost always asking too much. I also know that many services are unable to offer longer due to rationing, but there must be a better way. I am also often puzzled why people come up with arbitrary number of weeks, why 6, 10 or 12 weeks? Recovery for survivors MUST be led by them, recovery is about EMPOWERMENT and that means giving the victim CHOICE, CONTROL and POWER over their own future.
I was warned by my counsellor that things often get worse before they get better during the process and he was right. Revisiting the abuse opened me up more than I could have ever imagined.
Flashbacks increased. For those of you who are unaware, flashbacks are not just recalling memories, it's much more like reliving them, you are not in the present, but back in the actual abuse. I also recovered more memories of being violated and that indecent photos had been taken of me. How had these been used? Who had seen them? Where were they shown? Just how much more there was to come I just did not know or if I could cope.
The old defence mechanisms started to kick in; minimizing the abuse and it's effects. I tried to rationalise the past; "I had deserved what had happened", but my counsellor would not relent; he threw challenge after challenge at me. "What would I say to another victim who had said the same thing?"..."Why then am I saying something different to myself?".
What became clear was that my abuse and therefore my abuser was still in control of my life and that I was still living in fear and as a victim.
I can recall very easily a piece of homework I was given:
"I want you to do something nice for yourself", the Counsellor said.
"Okay, I can do that", my reply.
"...now the tricky part..", my Counsellor continued"...not because I've asked you, but just because you're worth it and for no other reason."
I went back the following week having been unable to do it. I didn't deserve anything, simply for the reason I felt worthless and was full of self loathing; I even despised the child I had been and thought of him as pathetic and weak.
I desperately needed to give back the responsibility and the blame to the abuser. The guilt I had carried for the abuse was not mine, it was his. The shame I had been carrying for all these years, was not mine it was his .
As this process went on, the anger at being burdened with these issues and the injustice grew, I struggled with these feelings, they seemed overwhelming. In the past I had released or suppressed them with drinking/drugs or self-harming, but I was no longer willing to use these strategies and I wanted and needed to face these demons.
I didn't realise it, but thanks to the the counselling, I was beginning to gain self-worth for the first time. I hadn't deserved the abuse; what was done to me, was wrong.
My counsellor helped me understand that the "little me", the abused child, had done the very best he could at the time, with what he had and that rather than hate him, he needed my love and understanding. "What would you say to him now, if you had him standing in front of you?", my Counsellor asked. I collapsed into tears of sadness and pride at the courage that little boy had shown; protecting his own Mother, Father and family from the truth and in carrying the burden of the abuse all on his own, for so long.
This was a time of great confusion, all the old messages and lies I had been living with no longer rang true. What was I left with? It challenged my actual identity; if I was no longer going to be a victim of abuse, who was I?
Flashbacks increased. For those of you who are unaware, flashbacks are not just recalling memories, it's much more like reliving them, you are not in the present, but back in the actual abuse. I also recovered more memories of being violated and that indecent photos had been taken of me. How had these been used? Who had seen them? Where were they shown? Just how much more there was to come I just did not know or if I could cope.
The old defence mechanisms started to kick in; minimizing the abuse and it's effects. I tried to rationalise the past; "I had deserved what had happened", but my counsellor would not relent; he threw challenge after challenge at me. "What would I say to another victim who had said the same thing?"..."Why then am I saying something different to myself?".
What became clear was that my abuse and therefore my abuser was still in control of my life and that I was still living in fear and as a victim.
I can recall very easily a piece of homework I was given:
"I want you to do something nice for yourself", the Counsellor said.
"Okay, I can do that", my reply.
"...now the tricky part..", my Counsellor continued"...not because I've asked you, but just because you're worth it and for no other reason."
I went back the following week having been unable to do it. I didn't deserve anything, simply for the reason I felt worthless and was full of self loathing; I even despised the child I had been and thought of him as pathetic and weak.
I desperately needed to give back the responsibility and the blame to the abuser. The guilt I had carried for the abuse was not mine, it was his. The shame I had been carrying for all these years, was not mine it was his .
As this process went on, the anger at being burdened with these issues and the injustice grew, I struggled with these feelings, they seemed overwhelming. In the past I had released or suppressed them with drinking/drugs or self-harming, but I was no longer willing to use these strategies and I wanted and needed to face these demons.
I didn't realise it, but thanks to the the counselling, I was beginning to gain self-worth for the first time. I hadn't deserved the abuse; what was done to me, was wrong.
My counsellor helped me understand that the "little me", the abused child, had done the very best he could at the time, with what he had and that rather than hate him, he needed my love and understanding. "What would you say to him now, if you had him standing in front of you?", my Counsellor asked. I collapsed into tears of sadness and pride at the courage that little boy had shown; protecting his own Mother, Father and family from the truth and in carrying the burden of the abuse all on his own, for so long.
This was a time of great confusion, all the old messages and lies I had been living with no longer rang true. What was I left with? It challenged my actual identity; if I was no longer going to be a victim of abuse, who was I?
I hadn't deserved the abuse; what was done to me, was wrong.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a powerful corner to turn. still a ways to go, but it's a huge thing to be able to point to it and say 'Thats where i started the change' I still remember the shock of that realisation.