The third video in this series on Recovery from Childhood Trauma looks at the process of developing greater awareness of the long term aftermath many survivors of childhood trauma experience. When we embark on this healing journey, we often have little awareness of what is happening internally. We may be aware that we are anxious or depressed. We may be aware that we are exhausted from trying … [Read more...] about Increasing Awareness
An Integration Model for Recovery
The second video in this series on Recovery from Childhood Trauma introduces the model for recovery from childhood trauma that is the basis for this series. This particular model focuses on the process of integration. We often think of healing as a journey toward wholeness. Moving toward wholeness involves gathering up all the fragmented pieces of our lives and of our selves and bringing them … [Read more...] about An Integration Model for Recovery
Recovery from Childhood Trauma: An Introduction
In the Spring of 2001 I was invited to teach a workshop on recovery from childhood trauma at a National Association for Christian Recovery conference that would be held later that year. I am a survivor of childhood trauma. At that time, however, I had never shared this part of my recovery story in a public way. I had certainly shared my journey with those closest to me and for years in therapy. … [Read more...] about Recovery from Childhood Trauma: An Introduction
August Blessings
I will be taking a break from posting for the next few weeks. Thank you to each and all of you who have been following me here. I plan to return to weekly posts the Monday after Labor Day. Have a good August. Warmly, Juanita … [Read more...] about August Blessings
Know That You Are Loved
I trust in your unfailing love. Psalm 13:5 After my second surgery my husband and I spent a week at the beach. Both of us needed to recuperate from the many weeks of uncertainty and strain. It was the week of our thirty-seventh wedding anniversary. So we needed to both rest and celebrate. We were no longer waiting for results. We were no longer anticipating the possibility of radiation … [Read more...] about Know That You Are Loved
Be Who You Are
Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39 One day while driving along a familiar road, I found myself accelerating through a yellow light. Everyone behind me had to stop, and I felt for an instant that I had “won.” It was as if we had all been racing and I had just pulled ahead and beat everyone. I enjoyed my small victory. But my pride didn’t last long. In order to … [Read more...] about Be Who You Are
Let Yourself Be Carried
He tends his flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. Isaiah 40:11 One summer we took a trip to Maine to visit family. While there, we went to an island off the coast to spend a few days hiking. On one of our hikes, my husband commented on the fact that the trail we were on was no longer a trail but a long series of boulders we had to … [Read more...] about Let Yourself Be Carried
Celebrate Each Day
This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 The kind of cancer I had was not life-threatening, but because of the diagnosis, I came to know more directly than ever before that I am not immune from catastrophic illness and death. With this refresher course in personal mortality came a heightened capacity to taste the sweetness of life. Life is … [Read more...] about Celebrate Each Day
Make Room for Laughter
There is a time for everything, and a season for everything under heaven, a time to weep and a time to laugh. Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 Many years ago when I was first dating my husband, he made the comment that it might be good for me to learn to laugh more. At the time I was so serious about everything that I didn’t really know what he was talking about. I have learned to lighten up over the … [Read more...] about Make Room for Laughter
Stay Open to Joy
You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. Psalm 30:11 I learned that I had cancer on a Thursday afternoon. The next morning I was planning to meet with a friend for breakfast. We have been meeting regularly for more than twenty three years. This particular Friday morning was to be our Christmas celebration. I had called her the night before to let … [Read more...] about Stay Open to Joy
