Incest Survivors Support Group
Incest refers to any sexual activity between closely related persons that is illegal or socially taboo. Consensual adult incest is very rare. Incest between adults and prepubescent or adolescent children is a form of child sexual abuse that has been shown to be one of the most extreme forms of childhood trauma. If you or a loved one is a survivor of incest, join the group...
Announcing a mutual support group on the Daily Strength Website:
A Child Abuse Survivors Group
If you were abused as a child, teenager, or young adult, and are now are separated from the circumstances of your abuse, but continue to suffer from unpleasant memories, post-traumatic stress disorder, flashbacks, nightmares, have difficulty functioning in society, feel alone and friendless, feel 'different' from everyone else and have trouble fitting in, have difficulty finding a job or keeping a job, are living in poverty, have trust issues, sometimes wonder if you are human at all, or are experiencing other difficulties stemming from neglect, abandonment, torture, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, or other abuse, you are invited to join this group.
As a first step to overcoming your past you need to be able to openly and safely talk about what happened to you. This will allow you to understand what happened to you and to understand yourself as you are today. You can safely share your experiences here with other caring survivors of child abuse who are at various stages in their progress from Victim to Survivor to Thriver to Life Beyond Abuse.
To join the group, please click on the link here:
www.dailystrength.org/groups/achildabusesurvivorsgroup
A Child Abuse Survivors Group
If you were abused as a child, teenager, or young adult, and are now are separated from the circumstances of your abuse, but continue to suffer from unpleasant memories, post-traumatic stress disorder, flashbacks, nightmares, have difficulty functioning in society, feel alone and friendless, feel 'different' from everyone else and have trouble fitting in, have difficulty finding a job or keeping a job, are living in poverty, have trust issues, sometimes wonder if you are human at all, or are experiencing other difficulties stemming from neglect, abandonment, torture, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, or other abuse, you are invited to join this group.
As a first step to overcoming your past you need to be able to openly and safely talk about what happened to you. This will allow you to understand what happened to you and to understand yourself as you are today. You can safely share your experiences here with other caring survivors of child abuse who are at various stages in their progress from Victim to Survivor to Thriver to Life Beyond Abuse.
To join the group, please click on the link here:
www.dailystrength.org/groups/achildabusesurvivorsgroup
Refuse2quit
Thanks for the information.
Suz
The differences are small, but may matter to some people. For example, I monitor the group closely daily. Abusive postings and comments are removed immediately, and people are permanently banned from the group for blatantly inappropriate postings, again, immediately. There are presently about a half-dozen people who are permanently banned.
Also, the group is guided. What does this mean? It means that I understand that members are at various points in their journey in healing from child abuse, and I present articles and discussion topics and comments for the different phases members are in, with the knowledge that people want to move forward when the time is right for them individually.
I am a survivor of severe child abuse myself, so I understand the issues as someone who is not a survivor cannot. We have no 'experts' in the group, so you won't find useless psycho-babble about the 'inner child' or 'men-are-from-Mars-women-are-from-Venus' nonsense (men and women are from Earth). We stick to what is factual and what is helpful. Child abuse is very real, and no imaginary hocus-pocus is going to help in healing.
There are many types of abuse, and sexual abuse is just one type. In most instances of child abuse, the child suffered from more than one type of abuse and/or neglect. People who have not been sexually abused but who were abused in other ways are also welcome to join the group, which is another way A Child Abuse Survivors Group is different. We don't want to exclude any people who are truly in need of help.
Again, just for clarification, I myself and no other members of the group, have had training in psychology or any related fields. We're a mutual support group made up of survivors only.
Thank you for the information.
My gut reaction when I read that you "monitor the group closely daily" was that I don't want someone else making decisions for me. I am capable of monitoring things for myself... and things I find offensive get the ignore button.
But, in truth, Beaumont I've been on this board for a few years and have not found anyone's posts offensive...but, that's me.
Although many think only survivors understand survivor issues-- and for the most part I agree-- yet, that's not always the case. The greatest healer I've encountered was not a survivor... however, she knew how to be with survivors in ways that healed. In fact, many of the survivors in her workshops were ritual abuse survivors.
For me, inner child is not useless psycho-babble. My inner child is that part of me that sees and experiences the world from the viewpoint of the child self. It was that emotional part of me who got stuck in a young developmental age.
I don't know if you agree with Piaget's stages of development or not, but when I look back I could see it was very difficult for me to learn the age-appropriate developmental skills he describes when I was trying to deal with the abuse and how to survive.
The good news is that once I got in touch with those parts of me--and many of those parts were young inner-children, I was able to acquire the appropriate developmental skills quickly.
I have been a member of a 12-Step survivors group and it was absolutely wonderful. I find group work very powerful. However, it was all face-to-face with no one monitoring anything except themselves.
I prefer to think for myself, but acknowledge where you're coming from.
Respectfully,
SuzA
Well said. I agree.
xx
SuzA
Sorry I turned your "shell" into a "wall" can't imagine what I was thinking...or, obviously, not thinking.
Forgive me for screwing up your name.
xx
Suz
Shell, wall - the reference to Kahil Gibran's poem on pain is lost, but the metaphor remains the same.
GeorgeWayneKirk - Am sorry he kicked you out, but I am not in the group so can't really comment on that, but does it seem to be another form of alienation that I do not care to be involved in. To say "All are welcome" means just that - but then to quantify it and say "but only if you believe as I believe" just indicated that the group was not one I cared to belong to either.
Beaumont - I empathize with all the abuses you mentioned in the past - therapist abuse (been there), ministerial abuse (been there) and on and on; but I found that when one person failed me, many others assisted me in finding MY correct path. That was why I have a degree in psychology and Social Work - it helps me better understand what happened to me and thus I can help others who express the same experiences and feeling. And they listen or they don't - I don't push myself on anyone.
I do take some (mild) offense to the use of "psycho-babble", while acknowledging that there is "fad therapies" and that these can do great harm. But a truly committed therapist, who is interested not in making a name for themselves, but in actually assisting others will base their approaches in PROVEN therapies and techniques. As most therapist rely on insurance money to get paid, the insurance companies usually make sure that the therapists are using techniques that are time-proven and backed with massive amounts of research. That basically means they have to use FACTUAL therapies. So by pulling "articles" for discussion and only talking of "facts", you should remember these are only from your perspective, and in that way you are assuming the role of someone you said was not welcome in your group, ie. an "expert". Again, it sounds like you have been abused in various therapeutic settings, and this is very troubling to me, but you must find your own way as we all do.
I hope the members of your group find the strength and resolve that they need to truly make progress, rather than it just becoming a negative based "bitch session" as so many of groups can degrade into.
Best of luck -
Refuse2quit