Starting a Journal
A journal is a book where you can write personal details and feelings down. It can be any size, any shape and any colour. It is important that it remains totally confidential and you have total control over it. Only show it to people who you trust or just keep it private.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be Ann Frank to write a journal!
There are four easy steps to help you write one:
Pour your heart out
Writing about your heartfelt experiences is the most obvious choice when it comes to picking a subject for your journal. Don’t be shy to narrate your life story even if it seems completely uneventful to you. Seemingly trivial things like your first love or a teenage heartbreak can teach you a thing or two about how life works. Many years later, when you look back at your journals, you might be surprised at how far you have travelled over the years.
Random meditations
A journal is the perfect place to unleash the hidden philosopher within you. Put on your thinking cap and ruminate about random topics like things you are scared of, the meaning of life, the value of suffering and pain etc. On a lighter note, write about a movie you loved or a book that influenced you deeply.
Here are some exercises to help you get started or help you out during some writing block!
Exercise one:
Write down your experiences in detail. Write down everything you remember about the abuse. Every last detail – this will be very painful but will help with breaking your denial process.
Exercise two:
Obtain a photograph of yourself at the age you were when you were abused. Stick it into the journal. Write about the little person in the photograph, describe how you look, concentrating on your physical appearance; how small you are, how immature you look.
Exercise three:
Obtain a photograph of the person who abused you. Do the same, describe how he/she looks. This may be very difficult but do your best – if you can’t do it then try the next part of the exercise. Write about the difference between the first photo and the second. Concentrate on the physical differences between the two of you. Notice how small and vulnerable you were. Write underneath: ‘I was abused by name.’
Exercise four:
Re read exercise one, read it out aloud. Write down how you feel whilst you read it. Concentrate on your emotions and try and write why you think you are feeling these things. List the emotions you experience in a simple list format.
i.e. fear
shame
anger
hurt etc.
Make this list as long as you like, it will form the basics of future exercises.
Exercise five:
Write out a list (more lists I’m afraid) of all the things you have lost as a result of the abuse.
i.e. Innocence
childhood
self respect etc.
Exercise six:
Write an imaginary letter as a third party to yourself. Imagining you are an adult writing to the child who was abused. Explain how you don’t deserve what happened to you, the feelings you felt were right and apologise to yourself for the things the abuse has taken away from you.
Exercise seven:
Write a letter to your abuser, again as a third party, say what ever comes to mind. Try not to get hateful, be constructive and allow your anger to get through.
Exercise eight:
Re write the list in exercise four, relate each feeling to an occasion that happened recently and then do the same to a situation in your childhood. Compare the two situations and state which one was worse and why. Describe how your feelings today could have been affected by your experiences in your past.
Exercise nine:
In what ways have you denied your (or your loved one’s) abuse? How has this denial been helpful? How has it hurt you?
Exercise ten
Try drawing yourself and your abuser – what do these pictures tell you about yourself?
Exercise eleven
What are some significant things you have lost because of your (your loved one’s) abuse? what can you do as an adult to experience some of those things now? What have you lost that you can never regain?There is something about looking terror in the face, and seeing your own reflection, that is strangely relieving. There is comfort in knowing that you don’t have to pretend anymore, that you are going to do everything within YOUR power to heal. “I know now that every time I accept my past and respect where I am in the present, I am giving myself a FUTURE.”
“All I’d done prior is acknowledge that this has happened. It hadn’t really been touched.”
DON’T WAIT, DON’T WAIT, because it won’t go away. It always comes back and it gets harder.
If you say “WHY should I bother? I’ve coped so far,” I’d say to you, “You haven’t coped. You haven’t even LIVED a fraction of yourself. You may be a smothering artist. You may be smothering all kinds if self-expression that needs to come out for your sake, and for others. WHY not give it a CHANCE?”
Once you have began to tackle the denial you are ready to deal with your emotions and feelings – now you are ready to heal. Don’t expect too much at once, sometimes you will have relapses back into the denial stage – this is normal. Put it down to being a bad day, and remain focused on your journey. If at any stage you need guidance then feel free to use our free email service or post a message on our Adult Victim’s Bulletin Board. Either way you are not alone. From research alone 1 in 6 boys and 2 in 5 girls were abused as children. Together we can break the chain; through education and commitment we can help to lower these figures. HAVOCA will continue until all traces of child abuse are exterminated.
I’m an incest victim, I’m 68 still can’t forget. I want to write a journel about my life. Don’t know how to start. My incest was with father, brother and stepfather. Stepfather tried to kill me . Mother abandon me along with everyone else. I never go out live with my little dog Jojo. I just want to go to sleep and not wake up.
Sometimes we just have to grab a pen and paper and start writing. It might not make sense at first but it will soon develop a pattern. Please don’t give up….join our forums to meet other people, who like you, might be struggling too.
Linda, I feel your pain. I, too, am 68 and was abused as a child. I was married, but now it’s just me and my dog and cat. I isolate myself and some days, especially lately I’ve wanted to go to sleep and not wake up. It’s so difficult some days, but I really don’t want to leave my furkids all alone. They keep me going. I’m glad I found this site recently, because I think it will help a lot. I do believe I need to start journaling again, too. Good luck with yours and remember, you’re not alone.
Dear Linda, I am 37 and was abused as a child by my uncle. I don’t remember much of it, I know your pain though. That emptiness. However, I can assure you, there’s a lot more out there for people like you and me. The trees, our pets, the blue sky, the rain, the flowers. It was not our fault. It wasn’t.
I am a victim of abuse.. ghe abuse i have gone through was hell and I wil never forget.. just today i went through abuse.. and my head right now its hurting so bad i literally have lumps in my head and the shower cannot wash the pain away.. i was blamed for the abuse and i never did anything wrong i even got a death threat and I literally put a strong face to the world and nobody knows what I go through .. i just hope a day will come where my heart will be whole again and not feel like its been ripped open.. am turning 25 in 2 days time and every birthday i pray i have no abuse.. my eyes are full of tears i cant even see the screen.. thats my story .. but i pray for a happy one and for happiness and safety for all humankind
I hope you find peace yourself one day.
I just read today your comment.
Sorry for answering so much later.
It seems you are still trapped in a very abusive situation. Do you have somebody to turn to for help? You need to find a place where you feel secure and can start healing. I would really like to hear how you are doing today.
Don’t give up, don’t give your abusers the satisfaction to have ruined your life.
^^I’ve felt for most of my life. “I hope a day will come where my heart will be whole again and not feel like its been ripped open.” Only on these sights can i even allow myself to cry, and never in front of an actual human being because i always feel like it was my fault. I know that it wasn’t but I can’t make the feeling go away. I should have fought harder. This burden has been haunting me since I was 8 years old. The sexual abuse was just the icing on the cake, I lost my mom when I was 2 and then my father when I was 4. I went to different foster homes and was then adopted, I thought things were going to get better. They got so much worse. As an adult I’m supposed to just keep on going and just live day to day like normal people do but it just seems so impossible for me.
Wow, this looks GREAT. Thing is, it will take me a couple of years, easily, to do Step One. b/c I have so many instances of abuse, even up to adulthood, with my parents. But I am so grateful to get a step-by-step here!! That’s really helpful. Will start. Thanks!!
brilliant work !
I am so excited at finding this journal section. I have been a member for four months but have concentrated on the forum.only. It was only trying to find how I pick an avatar that I noticed the deeper content of the site. The exercises look really beneficial. I have been unable to disclose my story fully and I hope after journalling for a while I will find the confidence to add my account to that section of the forum. Thank you.
Thanks please share your find with the rest of the forum members – you’ll be amazed how many members are unaware of the content on the main site – despite my constant reminders 🙂
Glad you found it useful