I’m buried under deadline and helping a friend gather evidence for a court case (Flickr will have to wait), but check out this excerpt from my *beautiful* interview this weekend with Staci Hanes about her new book:
“Sexual trauma is a deep physical, emotional, mental and spiritual betrayal. On a deep level, it has one question the inherent goodness of both themselves and others. Because there is little social support for sexual trauma survivors to heal, or for perpetrators to be accountable (and also heal), survival and the choice to heal is often a deeply personal courageous act. To enter healing after sexual trauma, one has to be willing to feel emotions and walk through pain that most people avoid. Grief, rage, loss of innocence, isolation/loneliness, shame and guilt, etc., are all in the emotional landscape after trauma. One has to risk being trusting again — not as a good idea, but as a real act of vulnerability. A survivor has to re-learn skills that trauma destroys, like recognizing what they need, allowing a full range of sensations and emotions, boundaries, consent — the ability to say yes, no and maybe — combining intimacy and sex, etc.
I find survivors of sexual trauma, of trauma really, who are engaged in healing, to be some of the most courageous people I know.”
