PTSD Survivors Speak: A healing step that helped

Sometimes, no matter how much therapy we have it’s the ACTION(S) we take that really push us closer to overcoming PTSD. My friend, MS, found great comfort and strength in the following exercise. I asked her to share it with us as an example of a simple thing we can do to become more self-empowered.

A Healing Step that Helped

Your parents could not give you any more than what they had been taught by their parents. Now you can break their legacy of cruelty.

You might want to try this:

I took a large piece of paper (as big as you can find at a craft store) and scotch taped it to the back of a door that no one could see unless the door was closed.

I drew a large, full size outline of my abuser. Then I took colored post-it notes.

• the pink were the words used against me;
• the yellow the words that I know are true;
• the green were affirmations

(At first, I had a hard time accepting the “nice” phrases, but as I watched them grow — I really started feeling I deserved the words of acceptance, love and compassion.)

I worked on it for over a year, looking at the words of kindness and noticing the evil lies.

When I felt better about myself I rolled up the paper (Post-its and all). I took it to a barbeque in my back yard (you could even go to a park that has a fire pit) and lit it on fire.

As it burnt, I said to myself… “Everything I was told was a lie, the truth is in me. I am a creation of God, and He only makes beautiful things. I may not be a picture perfect model, but I am exactly what I was made to be — a loving, beautiful person. Now and forever.”

I hope this helps a little.

The opinions in this post are solely those of the author. To contribute to “Survivors Speak”, contact Michele.

(Photo acknowledgement on Flickr.)

Tags: ptsd