It was once suggested to me that 4 things were needed for me to heal from the effects of childhood trauma:
1: safety
2: support (both professional and personal)
3: information (healthy and balanced)
4: connection to the inner child (right brain, emotional self, etc).
I loved the simplicity of this and embraced it entirely. I began looking at and becoming more aware of my own safety on every level which really helped me to find courage and inner strength. I set boundaries and learned to let others set boundaries of their own with me. I created safety in my own world and that made me feel safer in the outer world. As I learned to trust my own ability and intuition, I felt less afraid of everything.
I got a lovely counsellor to support me for 2 sessions every week and attended the workshops she ran Wich meant that in effect I had daily counselling for 2 years and I flooded myself with information about such things as healthy relationships; anger; self esteem; journalling; domestic violence; inner wisdom; sexuality and much more. I realized quickly that I had huge deficits in the area of life skills-there were things that a lot of other people took for granted as common sense that I had no concept of, so I read books written for children and teens too. There turned out to be so much I didn't know.
Eventually I remembered the feelings too-the inner child.
I know now (after 7 years of counselling and a huge amount of effort and tears, that the me I used to be is not the me I was born to be and not the me I am today. I have a dissociative identity but I am happy,whole and loved and now I even have hopes and dreams!! It's finally a wonderful life and I owe it to myself to enjoy it and keep moving forward xxxxx
