Resurrection After Rape Community Group
Discussion, question-and-answer, general social support, and journal processing for progress-oriented rape survivors. No crisis, no damaging or triggering conflicts--this is for individuals who want to contribute to collective, cooperative action toward the goal of making actual PROGRESS through rape trauma. Much of this work is based on the book "Resurrection After...
Today was spent at the Oklahoma State Capital with hundreds of people who represent counselors, advocates, program staff, and survivors who are organized to support sexual assault and domestic violence services. The rotunda of the capital was filled with us! Around the center rotunda, we set up "silent Witnesses"--the red silhouettes that represent fatalities from domestic violence.
At the center of all of it was the beautiful Survivor's Quilt, made from the fabric pieces that many of you designed at last year's retreat! Without a doubt, it was the most spectacular thing on display. People stood and stared at it for minutes at a time, reading every piece of it, taking pictures, and asking for the stories about how it was conceived. When we told them about the retreat, people were so excited, so happy, to hear that this is happening right in Oklahoma!
Two women came up to me and told me that I had saved their lives (they weren't together; they came on their own). That's a heavy thing to hear, so I wasn't sure how to even respond. They said that the "RAR" book has made a huge difference to them, and that years of suffering had finally come to an end as they worked through the program with their therapists. Two counselors also told me that they use RAR in all their work, and one even teaches a class and tells her students to buy the book! I showed them LTS, and they were stunned by it--one program wants to buy them to give to all their clients now.
I was also approached by three other women who wanted to tell me that they had friends who had been using RAR, and it had changed them. One woman began to cry and said that she had known her friend for eight years, and "nothing had made her any better until she started your book." I told her that I appreciated it, but that the glory and honor go back to her friend entirely. It's nice to know something I've done has helped, but that's where it ends--it's not about me, it's about their lives, their futures. They're doing the hard work. The woman said that her friend just glows now, and has a happy job and treats herself so well today. Oh, and this friend of hers is coming in May to the retreat, too!
So this was a good day. I got to see how much the retreat and the book are making an impact. If more people knew about the retreat, so many would want to come that we could do them every weekend!
At the center of all of it was the beautiful Survivor's Quilt, made from the fabric pieces that many of you designed at last year's retreat! Without a doubt, it was the most spectacular thing on display. People stood and stared at it for minutes at a time, reading every piece of it, taking pictures, and asking for the stories about how it was conceived. When we told them about the retreat, people were so excited, so happy, to hear that this is happening right in Oklahoma!
Two women came up to me and told me that I had saved their lives (they weren't together; they came on their own). That's a heavy thing to hear, so I wasn't sure how to even respond. They said that the "RAR" book has made a huge difference to them, and that years of suffering had finally come to an end as they worked through the program with their therapists. Two counselors also told me that they use RAR in all their work, and one even teaches a class and tells her students to buy the book! I showed them LTS, and they were stunned by it--one program wants to buy them to give to all their clients now.
I was also approached by three other women who wanted to tell me that they had friends who had been using RAR, and it had changed them. One woman began to cry and said that she had known her friend for eight years, and "nothing had made her any better until she started your book." I told her that I appreciated it, but that the glory and honor go back to her friend entirely. It's nice to know something I've done has helped, but that's where it ends--it's not about me, it's about their lives, their futures. They're doing the hard work. The woman said that her friend just glows now, and has a happy job and treats herself so well today. Oh, and this friend of hers is coming in May to the retreat, too!
So this was a good day. I got to see how much the retreat and the book are making an impact. If more people knew about the retreat, so many would want to come that we could do them every weekend!
You're not the one making our choices for us and keeping us on the healing road but you are the giver of the map. There are a lot of people who work in rape therapy who shouldn't as well as a lot of therapists etc who are a bit misguided but have good intentions. Reading your book was like reading a common sense manual but it still took reading the things you had laid out and in a way that I could take on board for me to find the key to unlock my own power.
You are dumbledore :) You never do the work for us but you guide us and a victory is as much yours as it is ours. Dumbledore is a pest about accepting his own role too ;)
Now enough badgering you... What an awesome day! Days like these and the retreat, i hope, make all the trials you have suffered fade away into the background. Maybe even do a little F- you dance to the naysayers :D
i think Elisheva and Heptet summed it all up very well,
Brit, I got my stamps today! THANK YOU!!