Dear Healing Writer

Dear Hive,

I am almost 65 years old. I had a teenage pregnancy that ended in abortion (it was consensual sex, the boy I was involved with was 17, I was 14). I was never offered counseling after the experience. I went on with my life, met another young man and a year after graduating high school we got married. While we were dating I was working at my first real job and was sexually assaulted by a man who worked there. It was never reported. Then, two weeks before our wedding I was raped by a "family friend". It was never reported. I went on to marry my husband. During our 46 years of marriage I was sexually assaulted AGAIN on 3 separate occasions. None of those were ever reported either. Fear was the motivating factor that kept the silence of all these incidences locked in my soul for what I thought would be eternity. But when I was in my 50's it all came bubbling to the surface and began affecting my life in very negative ways. So, with the support of my husband and my grown children I went to therapy. It was/is the hardest thing I have ever done. I still struggle to this day but I finally am beginning to feel peace. I learned what triggers me and can acknowledge them out loud. I have written a short memoir about my experiences and have allowed my family and a few very select friends to read it. I was amazed at the lack of response I got after they read it. I actually think some of them do not believe my story, which has been the downside of writing it. But it helped me. And in the end, that's what matters the most. Women who are brave enough to tell their stories and are met with disbelief and silence is WHY we don't report the abuse. It is why we live in a constant state of fear. This needs to stop. And it has become my mission for the rest of my life to see that it does.

​Dear Healing Writer,

Thank you for asking the hive!

Thank you for sharing your heart. Narrative therapy is profoundly meaningful process for healing. Often times the healing comes from the writing rather than the response from the writing.

Be Well,
​

The Hive