In the work of exposing trafficking, V4CR meets many survivors who have endured the unimaginable. We acknowledge and honour these warriors for what they have endured and overcome, especially those now using their experience to protect others. We also want to validate the way a survivor feels. Harming a child is evil; we are not here to change anyone's mind about that.
What is trauma?
The American Psychological Association describes trauma as an emotional response to a terrible event such as an accident, an assault or a natural disaster. Shock and denial are typical immediately afterwards; longer-term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships, and physical symptoms such as headaches or nausea.
Trauma is your emotional reaction to a difficult experience, and only you choose how you view a situation and how much you let it affect you. That is easier said than done. Rain may ruin one person's wedding and water another's crops; the rain itself is neither good nor bad. The harm done to a child is nothing like rain. It is not subjectively positive. It is not okay, and no one should tolerate it.
We are not here to ask you to think positively about what happened to you. We are here to help you find peace, so you can overcome the trauma, step away from the identity of a victim, and rewrite your story in a way that gives you power. And beyond a peaceful, joyful, fulfilling life, we want you to heal so you can help others. You are here, which means you will not tolerate harm to children. You know the enemy, and you are uniquely qualified to raise awareness and protect children. You have a purpose, a mission, and a reason to thrive. To rescue others, you must first find healing.
What healing means
- Healing is not a finish line. It is a daily choice.
- It does not require you to forgive and forget. It does require you to release the pain, shame and trauma.
- Only you decide when you are ready, and how far you go.
- Healing means that no matter what happened in the past, you have decided not to let it control your present or your future.
- It means allowing yourself to find peace and experience joy.
Healing does not mean making peace with the person who harmed you, or that their actions will ever be justified. It does not mean what happened was not wrong. It does mean a conscious effort to rise above the trauma and free yourself from the control those memories have had over your life. It means choosing not to be a victim, and instead to be a warrior.
What trauma does to your body and mind
Emotions are stored in the body, and unresolved trauma causes collateral damage. Stress, anger, resentment, shame and guilt become part of you; the body carries that tension and toxicity until it wears you down, in mental and physical discomfort, degeneration and disease. Ignoring the problem does not make it go away. It makes it fester.
If you have ever felt unexplainable anxiety, anger, aggression, frustration, fear or anguish, your subconscious may be reacting to an unhealed trauma. These triggers are warning signs. Instead of ignoring them, deflecting with substances or distraction, or letting them overwhelm you, examine them:
- How does it start? What are the warning signs?
- How does it make you feel physically and mentally? What does it make you want to do?
- How do you breathe? How do you react, and how do others react?
- How do you feel afterwards?
Assessing these clues helps you understand what is making you feel out of control, and what you need to resolve it.
Why release trauma?
Why would you want to hold on to it? Why let the person who controlled and overpowered you as a child control you now? Why give them any bandwidth in your life? Most importantly: if you do not take control of it, it will take control of you. Unhealed trauma shapes your perspective, emotions, thoughts, sleep, digestion, immune system and overall health. It affects your loved ones, your relationships and everyone around you.
Rewire your brain and rewrite your story
Practical techniques and resources have helped survivors of trauma and trafficking to heal, overcome and thrive. Survivors share them in V4CR's video library, including the replay "How to heal and overcome trauma, from a survivor."
Rancho Milagro: a sanctuary of healing
Rancho Milagro is a ranch in northeast Scottsdale, Arizona, that uses equine therapy and coaching to provide refuge and healing for survivors of abuse and trauma. Its programs are designed to heal and renew mind, body and spirit. What happens to survivors.
In a world where most people ignore the cries of the children whose voice and innocence has been stolen, let us be the strength they need. If for no other reason, choose to heal so you can defend the defenceless. Choose to be the victor of your story and a protector of the innocent. Choose not to need anyone or anything around you to change in order to find the peace and closure you deserve. Choose to redesign your life as the happy, peaceful, strong person you are. Choose to overcome, and choose to join the fight to make this country a safer place for children. The children need you to be their voice.