CHILDHOOD ABUSE I SURVIVED, SO CAN YOU! By James I was born in a beautiful little town in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first nine years of my life were wonderful. However, in beginning in 1967, my childhood was abruptly changed forever. Often, when I would go to play at my … Continue reading
The Inexorable Link Between Childhood Trauma and Hormonal Imbalances The America SPCC reports that in a given year, child abuse reports involve approximately 7.2 million children. Abuse has both short-term and long-term consequences, with the latter including physical, psychological, and behavioral consequences. Trauma also causes hormonal changes, including changes to oxytocin and … Continue reading
In the Shadow of An Abuser Victims of child abuse have a plethora of literature that encourages them to move beyond the abuse. They are inspired to channel their pain and overcome the obstacles they were presented with as children. All the resources available for this demographic are useful. However, … Continue reading
Achieving Emotional Release Through Music According to a recent study by Sage Journals, musical engagement is connected to posttraumatic resilience. It’s not unusual for survivors of child abuse to develop a complicated relationship with self-expression, but psychologists are now uncovering music’s potential for emotional healing later in life. The Link Between Music … Continue reading
Therapy Changed My Life ‘I swapped addiction for therapy, conscious behavioural choice and self-care’ Walking the Thames towpath, I caught up with a man I assessed, given that I was hypervigilant, to be bigger and stronger than me. When he glanced back, I sensed he was also hypervigilant. I intuited … Continue reading
The 4Fs: A Trauma Typology in Complex PTSD By Pete Walker, M.A. Psychotherapy (pete-walker.com) This paper describes a trauma typology for differentially diagnosing and treating Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This model elaborates four basic defensive structures that develop out of our instinctive Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fawn responses to … Continue reading
HAVOCA 20th Anniversary HAVOCA has now been online for nearly 20 years!! Our Trustee, Jamie Harms, started HAVOCA back in July 2001 as a way to provide support to other survivors of child abuse. Initially conceived as a portal for survivors to find services and information that didn’t alienate them, … Continue reading
A New Chapter How Brave Are You? Brené Brown writes, “Owning your story and loving yourself through the process is the bravest thing you will ever do.” But the quote that is often left out is what she says after, “and further, it allows us to write a new ending.” So, … Continue reading
Surviving the Holiday Season as a Survivor
The holiday season can be a terrible time for survivors of abuse. TV scenes, family gatherings and pictures of joy and happiness, plastered all over social media can be the catalyst for memories and flashbacks that haunt victims of abuse. It is understandable that survivor’s feelings are heightened during this period. As a very high proportion of abuse occurs within the family unit it is hardly surprising that times that bring families together, are the times that generate the most pain for Survivors. Continue reading
Harming Your Child by Making Him Your Parent A very subtle way to create damage in your child is to turn that child into your parent. This process is called parentification, not to be confused with parenting. Parentification can be defined as a role reversal between parent and child. A child’s … Continue reading
