How to heal from child abuse

How to start the healing process when you are an adult survivor of child abuse.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Desire to be healed
• Network of support
• Professional Help
• A drive to change and not repeat the cycle of abuse

1. Stop being a grave digger! What is in the past is not your present life, don't keep digging in the past without a purpose to heal. Determine in your soul that you want to be healed and not to just dig and wallow. Healing should always be progressive, no matter how much it hurts.
2. Face reality. Many people who have been abused have a hard time identifying that they really have been hurt and need help. You can not cap off a volcano of pain and just hope it never erupts. Don't minimize your abuse. Many people will try to get you to do this, especially family.
3. Find a therapist that specializes in Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome/Disorder (PTSD) and has experience in trauma counseling. Also make sure your therapist is of the same sex. Many times a victim of child abuse is very vulnerable and an easy victim for more abuse.
4. Realize that you are going to have to persevere through the painful trials of your past. Burying your past doesn't work any more than grave digging. There is a time and place for honestly looking at what happen, facing it as the truth and learning how do identify lies that you believe about yourself because of the abuse you endured.
5. Find a good psychiatrist that can prescribe medication that may be needed for you to face the events of your abuse childhood. Often when counseling opens up trauma or terror, you may need chemical help to keep you stable during the healing process.

Tips & Warnings

• This is not easy or the same identical path for anyone, each is unique.
• The Exchange Family Center is an excellent center for supporting you through the process.
• It usually requires for you to face your healing with a strong faith in God, and allowing Him to lead you to what areas that need to be worked on next.
• Believe that you can be healed and that you can stop the abuse cycle!
• Be very careful getting one-on-one intensive trauma counseling with a therapist of the opposite sex. Abuse therapy is often very intimate and highly personal. Talking with someone of the opposite sex can draw you in emotionally, especially when you are looking for help and support.