Of the sexual abuse survivors you knew. . .

by Lady Lee 51 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

  • Butterflyleia85
    Butterflyleia85

    I have a question is there a one book I could get to help me or with what you decribed above (about what you went through Lady Lee). Right now I Thank you so so so very much for opening up about this I can understand more clearly my insane actions (for the past three years). I for the first time on this board fully will admit I was sexually abused by my father too but fortunity my mother, doctors, police, and conselars told me I have a memory block of the incident that has helped me cope with the tramatic incident and because I was 5 it wouldn't be as hard on me (which was true up until, now when men started noticing me and started having relationships). Dad was my fatherfigure at the time who I looked up to and loved dearly but abused that love and well I feel I allowed alot of unessary abuse on myself with every instance I face especially with men.

    Mom and I (my lil sis just a baby) were on the run because he threated to kidnap me. We stayed close to my grandparents who help raise me & my sister.

    See I'm afraid weither I should have kids when I get married if I'd be a good mom. I also have emotional issues and problems moving on. I'm very clingy to my fiance and seriously I prob would die with out him. I still have a bet of problems with my self image, confidence, and especially decision making. I relie on my fiance so much for every move I make, he has treated me so well and with a ton more respect then any guy I met and I don't want to loose that. But I worry I will turn into my mom (she was remarried once and it wasn't pretty)... I don't want to scare him away and I want to train my (future) kids the right way. But somehow I feel I need a image (to beable to say I know myself) before I go into big steps like having kids and choicing a religion. And if I find this image will it affect my marriage like it lead to me getting DFed (I over came being shy & backwords after learning that men were actually attracted to me and life wasn't so scary as I made it to be, it was my turning point at age 21 and now I'm 24).

  • Butterflyleia85
    Butterflyleia85

    Looked up on Amazon... 'The Courage to Heal' by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis looks really good!! A guide for women servivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

  • Butterflyleia85
    Butterflyleia85

    and 'How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life: Opening your Heart to Confidence, Intimacy, and Joy' by Susan Piver. I think it will be a good guide for positive thinking.

  • VoidEater
    VoidEater

    Courage to Heal is very good IMO.

  • Lady Lee
    Lady Lee

    Butterfly I am so sorry I missed thos so thanks fpr bring it back up

    I have a list on my website that I recommend. Courage to Heal is a great book and is still available in many bookstores. I highly recommend the ones in red

    ABUSED MEN

    • Abused Boys: The Neglected Victims of Sexual Abuse by Mic Hunter
    • Against The Wall by Hardy & Hough
    • Broken Boys/Mending Men by Stephen D. Grubman-Black
    • Male Survivors: by Timothy Sanders
    • Victims No Longer by Mike Lew

    CHILDHOOD ABUSE SURVIVORS

    • Adult Children Of Abusive Parents by Steven Farmer
    • Divorcing A Parent by Beverly Engel
    • My Parent’s Keeper by Eva Marian Brown
    • Older Women In Recovery by Helen Larimore
    • Outgrowing The Pain by Eliana Gil
    • Soul Survivors by J. Patrick Gannon
    • Strong At The Broken Places by Linda T. Sanford -- sexual abuse
    • Toxic Parents by Susan Forward

    LONG-TERM EFFECTS

    • Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion By Carol Tavris
    • Dance Of Anger By Harriet Goldhor Lerner
    • Anxiety & Phobia Workbook (3rd edition) by E. J. Bourne
    • Emotional Blackmail by Forward, S.
    • Outgrowing the Pain Together: A Book for Spouses and Partners by Gil, E.
    • Outgrowing the Pain: For and About Adults Abused as Children by Gil, E.
    • PTSD Workbook by Williams, M.B.
    • Adult Children As Husbands, Wives, And Lovers: By Steven Farmer

    SPOUSAL ABUSE

    • Battered Into Submission by Alsdurf & Alsdurf -- in the context of religion
    • Emotional Blackmail by Susan Forward
    • Emotionally Abused Woman by Beverly Engel
    • Verbally Abusive Relationship by Patricia Evans
    • You Can Be Free by Nicarthy & Davidson

    CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE SURVIVORS/INCEST

    • Courage To Heal by Bass & Davis
    • Reclaiming Our Days: Meditations For Incest Survivors by Helena See
    • Secret Survivors by Sue E. Blume- especially if you don't remember everything
    • Silently Seduced – Understanding Covert Incest by Kenneth M. Adams
    • Ghosts in the Bedroom by Graber, K. - for sexual abuse survivors and their partners
    • Allies In Healing by Laura Davis -- for sexual abuse survivors and their partners
  • Lady Lee
    Lady Lee

    I want to answer some of the things you mentioned

    Right now I Thank you so so so very much for opening up about this I can understand more clearly my insane actions (for the past three years).

    Some people think I talk about this as a way to vent. I do it because I KNOW there are people like you who need to know they are not alone and that it is OK to start talking. So thank you for doing just that. I know it isn't easy.

    I for the first time on this board fully will admit I was sexually abused by my father too but fortunity my mother, doctors, police, and conselars told me I have a memory block of the incident that has helped me cope with the tramatic incident and because I was 5 it wouldn't be as hard on me (which was true up until, now when men started noticing me and started having relationships). Dad was my fatherfigure at the time who I looked up to and loved dearly but abused that love and well I feel I allowed alot of unessary abuse on myself with every instance I face especially with men. Mom and I (my lil sis just a baby) were on the run because he threated to kidnap me. We stayed close to my grandparents who help raise me & my sister.

    It is tragic when a parent betrays that trust that an innocent child must have in them. It is our only way to survive and they betrayed us. Thank goodness you had people in your life who protected you from him. Young children, especially those under the age of five will commonly block the memory of the abuse. it sounds like you have plenty of people who will validate it though so no one can accuse you of making it up.

    Your experiences with men later on are all common among sexual abuse survivors. It is a hard thing to learn to relate to men in a non-sexual way when some of your first experiences were so skewed. You can't treat a young child for the long term effects of the abuse until they become long term problems. The child has to be at that age where, like in your case, relationships begin that the problems begin to show up.

    See I'm afraid weither I should have kids when I get married if I'd be a good mom.

    If you deal with your issues around the abuse and are clear about where the problems are you can head off so many of the problems you are worried about. Being abused isn't an automatic stamp that you will be a bad parent. In reality the fact that your mother did everything in her power to protect you gives you that life-lesson that you can pass on to your children.

    I also have emotional issues and problems moving on. I'm very clingy to my fiance and seriously I prob would die with out him. I still have a bet of problems with my self image, confidence, and especially decision making. I relie on my fiance so much for every move I make, he has treated me so well and with a ton more respect then any guy I met and I don't want to loose that.

    All of this can be helped with good therapy.

    But I worry I will turn into my mom (she was remarried once and it wasn't pretty)...

    OK your mom married a creep. BUT SHE LEFT HIM! That is your example. She left. There is no reason to think you will no make the same mistake your mother made. You most likely will make better choices and avoid your mother's initial mistake. And from what you described above your fiance sounds pretty good.

    I don't want to scare him away and I want to train my (future) kids the right way. But somehow I feel I need a image (to beable to say I know myself) before I go into big steps like having kids and choicing a religion. And if I find this image will it affect my marriage like it lead to me getting DFed (I over came being shy & backwords after learning that men were actually attracted to me and life wasn't so scary as I made it to be, it was my turning point at age 21 and now I'm 24).

    Well it doesn't sound like he is running away. It sounds like you are making good choices and that you are aware of some of the dangers. Get some good counseling. That will help you to know yourself. Keep the lines of communication open with your fiance.

    And be kind to yourself. It sounds like you are so hard on YOU. And you don't have to be. Yes your father gave you some hard lessons. But he wasn't the only adult in your life. The other adults protected you. Take lessons from them.

    When I was first in counseling for the sexual abuse my counselor put me together with another incest survivor. We were both interested in group sup[port. But there was only 2 of us so we agreed to meet. I was so scared going into that first meeting. I expected to see a pathetic, poorly dressed, uncouth person when I walked into the room. Instead I saw a pleasant well,dressed pretty young woman. I was surprised, no shocked. After the meeting I thought about what my expectations were. It amounted to this. The image I expected was how I saw myself. But as Mouthy/Grace here has said many times I was a pretty young woman who took good care of myself. This is the person I thought was so ugly and terrible

    Lee before I left the JWs and got counseling

    What we believe isn't necessarily true. Sometimes we need an outside opinion that is unbiased. That is a bit of what a counselor can do for you

  • truthseekeriam
    truthseekeriam

    Lady Lee,

    I thank you so much for your experience and love you bring to this forum.

    I'm in a major struggle with taking that step to just give in and allow someone to know my thoughts and feelings with what has happened in our lives. My husband has really been pushing me to seek counseling because he knows I'm not even near the wife and mother I use to be before my child was molested but for some reason fear of the unknown keeps me pretending things are okay for now, fooling everyone around me just enough to lay off the pressure.

    I come here and seek out your posts because I know they will help me in my need, so please know, your efforts and insight are much appreciated even though many of us just read them and are helped without saying a word.

  • Lady Lee
    Lady Lee

    truthseeker

    It is called denial. And it is quite common. Most of us, myself included, think if we pretend everything is OK they everything is OK. It just doesn't work.

    I know how scary the unknown can be. I think as a parent a person winds up blaming themself. Why didn't I know? Why didn't I evgen suspect? What could i have done differently? What if. . . ? What if . . . ? What if . . . ? It can make you crazy. The problem is that we can spend years being afraind of the unknown when with some counseling we can learn to put the abuse in its place. Then life gets better and you don't have to pretend anymore.

    Do it for your family. Do it for your child. But most importantly, do it for yourself.

  • Butterflyleia85
    Butterflyleia85

    When I was first in counseling for the sexual abuse my counselor put me together with another incest survivor. We were both interested in group sup[port. But there was only 2 of us so we agreed to meet. I was so scared going into that first meeting. I expected to see a pathetic, poorly dressed, uncouth person when I walked into the room. Instead I saw a pleasant well,dressed pretty young woman. I was surprised, no shocked. After the meeting I thought about what my expectations were. It amounted to this. The image I expected was how I saw myself. But as Mouthy/Grace here has said many times I was a pretty young woman who took good care of myself. This is the person I thought was so ugly and terrible

    What we believe isn't necessarily true. Sometimes we need an outside opinion that is unbiased. That is a bit of what a counselor can do for you

    Yes that is so true... and yes you were a beautiful young woman!! I'm going to see what it will take to get a counselor in my area. I am not really financially able to get one now but I will when I can. As for now I'm going to invest in those books!

    Thank you again,

    butterfly

  • VoidEater
    VoidEater

    Toxic Parents is also excellent from my perspective.

    Father's Touch by Daniel D'Haene was an eye opener - Daniel's story of survival of abuse in a JW home. Yes, this does happen, in JW homes, to boys as well as girls.

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