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Archive Number 3551 | ||
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Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 19:19:54 EST
MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thank you everyone for this conversation. The question David asks is central in the lives of most of my clients in the field of domestic violence and sexual assault. Central to my task is intuiting how best to receive these stories. Over differing amounts of time the stories do emerge, although in vastly differing degrees of detail and clarity. As the tellers are repeatedly encouraged and validated for surviving terrifying circumstances, gradual tangible healing occurs. There are even circumstances when a client, once cowed with grief and shame, eventuallly decides she wants to tell her story publicly. This is usually in the name of breaking the silence and in the hope of empowering other survivors. It goes without saying that safety has to be the first consideration: the safety of the teller, of course, and the safety of the audience. In these public "telling our story" forums counselors are always identified before the stories begin, so that any audience triggered by what they hear will have support. The ideal hope is that through the telling, survivors truly do observe themselves as triumphant in the hero's journey. Ann Hoban, MA Sexual Assault and Domestic Viloence Counselor ------------------------------- To Unsubscribe from Healingstory send the message: unsubscribe healingstory to: listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu ------------------------------- | ||