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J

Jane_Doe

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The last few days have been hard i have been having flashbacks of the abuse i suffered as a child and a teen it was sexual and ritual abuse by friends of my mother and others including a priest

i stuggle some times with my faith because of this i ask God why a priest would do this kind of thing but i get no answers

i just feel that it was something that i did wrong

Halloween is a hard time for me as some of the abuse happned around then
this Halloween was just horrible i had flashbacks and nightmares i was reliving it again but now its over and thank God that i got through it ok
 

Johnnz

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Have you ever talked about this with a suitable person? Flashbacks are common after any horrific experience. You are not bad. You were the unwilling victim of someone else's wickedness. Clergy are perfect people and sometimes they too can engage in bad behaviour.

But God is still there for you and He is trustworthy.

John
NZ
 
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Criada

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I'm sorry you went through that, sweetie.
I suffer flashbacks, and they are very hard to deal with. If you can, ask your doctor about EMDR therapy - it made a huge difference to me.
God is there, sweetie - holding you and carrying you through the worst times.
Praying for you, and here if you want to talk - PM me anytime
 
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Kristen.NewCreation

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I'm glad you got through the difficult time. I too have flashbacks and body memories from past abuse. My therapist says that I did nothing wrong. My father did wrong.

I would tell you the same - you did nothing wrong. A priest is in the role of power compared to those in the congregation. He was responsible to be careful to not cross boundaries with his role as a leader. The priest and the others who abused you did wrong.
 
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Chaplain David

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You did nothing wrong. You are the victim and the abusers were the perpetrators. Not only did you experience the horror of abuse, you were traumatized by it so badly that you continue to experience it as you said in the forms of flashbacks and dreams, perhaps in other ways as well. In my experience this kind of trauma does in most cases, not go away on it's own and professional help is usually needed to really make progress with it. My wife is a therapist who does EMDR and like Criada said, EMDR has done wonders with her. I'm not recommending a therapy but am wondering, have you sought out counseling with a licensed professional counselor/social worker/or other counseling progessional with expertise in trauma and abuse? I know many that have benefited greatly from counseling, I being one of them.
 
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