Newsletter

Welcome to The Power to HEAL Newsletter where we educate, empower, and inspire survivors of sexual abuse through uplifting and relevant content.

APR 6

Breaking the Silence Newsletter

Welcome to the Power to HEAL newsletter! This is HEAL’s first edition of its newsletter, and we are excited to launch it during Abuse Awareness Month. The Power to HEAL will focus on tools you can use to overcome your past and lead a fulfilling life. There are several sections that will inspire you to keep going on your healing journey. Survivors of sexual abuse often set their traumatic experiences aside and neglect to help themselves. At HEAL we believe you should invest in YOU! Our program was customized for your journey and our metrics are personalized for just you. 

Our focus this month is on breaking the silence. There are many ways a survivor can break the silence and this is a special edition on the stigma barrier that stops survivors from seeking help. Survivors have a tendency to internalize stigmas. 

Breaking the silence is a term used throughout the world in relation to survivors of sexual abuse. It is a term that is misunderstood by many people. Breaking the silence is not just telling another person that you have been sexually abused or confronting your abuser. 

Breaking the silence can mean writing down what happened to you in a journal. At HEAL we get survivors all the time saying that they have never written down the abuse. They share that it would make it permanent, and they would be embarrassed if anyone found their journal. But a powerful experience can happen when a survivor writes down what happened to them. It helps them trust their own instincts – that they are not to blame, and it empowers them to take more control of their life. 

Breaking the silence can mean going to a therapist to discuss issues that may be related to being abused such as phobias, anxieties, nightmares, flashbacks, or self-destructive behaviors. 

Breaking the silence can mean joining a support group [take to support group landing page] whether virtual or in-person and listening to others share their stories and finding comfort knowing you are in a community that understands what you have been through. 

Breaking the silence to many is considered confronting your abuser or telling other family members or friends or their social network. But the fact is, breaking the silence is a very personal experience. It is important that if you have told someone before and you were shamed, blamed, or ostracized, to remember to keep coming forward. The safest way may be a therapist or support group [Link to support group landing page]. Do not let your rejection or your fear of rejection stop you from coming forward – again. Do not let another person’s negative and even stigmatized [link to April 5 blog post] response stop you from reaching out for the help you need. You will not be rejected by a support group that specializes in sexual abuse. 

If you were sexually abused in a family or with extended family, sex trafficked, or experienced prostitution, you may find that others knew about the abuse and did not protect you. Do not let their disturbing actions stop you from getting the help you need. You need to be able to see the importance of trying to overcome the devastation the abuse can cause and it is so important for you to understand you can heal from sexual abuse and that tapping into your potential is possible. 

It is important for survivors to continue to look for the help that they need. The HEAL community helps survivors have a place to come anonymously on the website and get the help and education they need to move forward with their lives. In regard to all the confusion about why people acted the way that they did really becomes a minimal part of the process as you try to navigate through the healing journey. The healing journey is about you and the actions you will take moving forward. You owe it to yourself to learn the best way to break the silence in your life. Breaking the silence is an important part of your healing journey and it causes a shift in your life to help you make decisions to grow and find freedom from the abuse.