Listening With Care
I am a survivor of childhood sexual trauma, and I live with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). My journey has been long, painful, and filled with hard work to heal wounds that were kept hidden and denied. Yet, despite everything I have endured, I have had people—friends, even family—minimize my trauma and the impact it has had on my life. I have been told, “You’ve been in therapy all these years, you should be over it.” As if healing has a deadline. As if the pain of childhood violations can simply expire with time. I have been accused by family of using my trauma as an excuse, “You are just using that as an excuse to keep doing bad things.” As if I enjoy reliving the past to explain why I do odd things, things that are illegal, and lie. And I have heard other words meant to silence me, blame me, and dismiss what I live with every day. But I refuse to be silent anymore. Trauma doesn’t work on a timeline. DID is not a choice. Healing is not linear, and it certainly doesn...