I have dreamed of someday writing my story maybe as a memoir… it includes fundamentalist cult-level type religious environment that impacted so many aspects of my family’s beliefs/culture, childhood sexual abuse, and my story also involves a teen sibling running away and being gone with no word for 15 months, multiple siblings and a parent with substance use disorder, siblings with significant mental health issues and hospitalizations, siblings being incarcerated. A big season involved us kinship parenting for 10yrs and attempting to support one of our kiddos through a serious eating disorder, and just general “trauma parenting” as I would call it, with a narcissistic bio parent who ended up connecting with the kids after 9yrs pf no contact, and convincing them they were stolen from her, so they ended up rejecting their placement with us and she wasn’t a viable option so they ended up in placements with the state and aging out from there, just heartbreaking. In the midst of that, one of my parents moved in to be dependent on me (two different times over 3 yrs) during attempts to leave a toxic remarriage… just sooo much. And I’m almost 42…whew! Thankfully I have a great therapist I see regularly 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I am grateful you have found a great therapist. Whenever stories like this are shared, I hold them carefully and send hope for healing in return. So much harm and healing is a difficult path, but worth it. Continued healing is my hope for you. Your voice is important.
These strategies are spot on! Each one resonates. Thank you for taking the time to give language to this experience. You have done that for me a number of times, and I am grateful.
I have dreamed of someday writing my story maybe as a memoir… it includes fundamentalist cult-level type religious environment that impacted so many aspects of my family’s beliefs/culture, childhood sexual abuse, and my story also involves a teen sibling running away and being gone with no word for 15 months, multiple siblings and a parent with substance use disorder, siblings with significant mental health issues and hospitalizations, siblings being incarcerated. A big season involved us kinship parenting for 10yrs and attempting to support one of our kiddos through a serious eating disorder, and just general “trauma parenting” as I would call it, with a narcissistic bio parent who ended up connecting with the kids after 9yrs pf no contact, and convincing them they were stolen from her, so they ended up rejecting their placement with us and she wasn’t a viable option so they ended up in placements with the state and aging out from there, just heartbreaking. In the midst of that, one of my parents moved in to be dependent on me (two different times over 3 yrs) during attempts to leave a toxic remarriage… just sooo much. And I’m almost 42…whew! Thankfully I have a great therapist I see regularly 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I am grateful you have found a great therapist. Whenever stories like this are shared, I hold them carefully and send hope for healing in return. So much harm and healing is a difficult path, but worth it. Continued healing is my hope for you. Your voice is important.
I find lots of symmetry in our experiences!
These strategies are spot on! Each one resonates. Thank you for taking the time to give language to this experience. You have done that for me a number of times, and I am grateful.