I wish I could say that the journey back to myself has been peaceful and exciting, but that is not the case. Some days I still find myself crying or not wanting to get out of bed. One thing that does help is remembering why I got away from the situation and what I really want for my future. Regardless of the haunting pains from our past we have to press forward.
In my research of psychopathic abuse, I learned that there are five stages of grief. The survivor will experience denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, in any order and at random times during the healing process. Allow yourself to go through each phase and heal properly. I was fortunate enough to find an excellent counselor who helped me get through each phase. My counselor even commented on how fast I was able to heal after going through 18 years of the abuse. I attribute the healing time to determination and education. Learn as much as you can and stop blaming yourself.
As I was sharing my story with a close friend, they opened up and shared some of their heart wretching story with me and I realized that I am not the only one to experience this type of abuse. Help someone else get through their storm! Remember we are surviving to be VICTORIOUS!
