Claudia Black describes the powerful journey that will lead the survivors of sexual abuse to find their inner strength, specialness, and dignity.

In adulthood, survivors experience the aftershocks of abuse, low self esteem, the inability to trust, difficulty with one's sexuality and the inability to be successful. People who have been sexually abused often learn to medicate their pain through the use of alcohol, other drugs, or food. Abuse survivors often live with shame and guilt. They experience incredible powerlessness in their lives.

This video addresses steps that are vital to the process of healing from childhood sexual abuse such as:

Speaking the truth – Claudia reminds the viewer that it is not your fault, you are not bad, you need to break the silence, you must not do it alone.

Feel the Feelings / Acknowledge the Losses – feelings are from your heart and what your heart wants to tell you.

Anger & Rage – if you don’t feel anger where did it go? Claudia reminds the viewer one needs to walk through the pain, not over it or around it. The good news is you never have to walk through the pain alone. Today as you respond with the vulnerability of your inner child you carry the strength of your inner adult.

Getting in Touch with your Inner Child – many survivors find this concept very frightening as it means remembering a time in which you did not have the power to protect yourself. Survivors often hate themselves for having been small, for having needed affection. When you continue to reject the child within, you’re hating a part of yourself; when you

take care of your inner child you take care of yourself.

Forgiveness - Claudia offers a framework for what forgiveness is and what it is not, encouraging the survivor to not engage in false forgiveness; forgiveness is not forgetting it is remembering and letting go.

Reclaiming Your Power – establishing healthy boundaries, embracing the word No, challenging internalized messages, and recognizing your rights are all critical to embracing your precious, powerful self.

Preview

To view the first 5 minutes of this video, click on the View Video Clip. You will need to have QuickTime Media Player installed on your computer. A free download is available here.

This video often affects the audience emotionally and because of the nature of the material presented, it is always advised that it be shown under the supervision of a professional experienced in dealing with issues of sexual abuse.

Running time is 30 minutes.