For Survivors of significant abuse, the journey to healing starts with truth beginning to surface.  As most Survivors have unknowingly pushed memories of the abuse far from their conscious recollection, those memories (and the information they contain) must therefore make their way past the strongly fortified defenses of the conscious mind, in order to get the Survivors attention, so that healing can start.

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Up until this point, the Survivor has simply found him/herself wrestling with the emotional impact of the abuse, yet without any apparent explanation for why they experience what they do.  Such "symptoms" can take the form of compulsions, addictions, ongoing and inexplicable physical and physiological disorders, and are often treated as such.  However, if they are to ever be resolved, the root of the issues must be addressed, rather than addressing the symptoms.

 

The following is offered as an overview of what a Survivor will often experience as truth begins to finally surface, as the wounded part of the survivor is finally able to start "getting through" to them.  As you read the following, if you begin to find yourself feeling anxious or if you find yourself getting triggered, view that as an indication that there may be more going on under the surface than you have been letting yourself acknowledge.