Child abuse is a tragic fact of many people’s past.

Abuse in childhood can have major negative effects on the adult lives of the abused, including psychological disorders like PTSD or Complex PTSD (C-PTSD).

What Is Abuse?

The childhood saying, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never harm me,” isn’t true at all. Child abuse may be verbal, emotional, physical, sexual, or even spiritual. Anything that involves threat, ridicule, intimidation, humiliation, and harm is abusive. Children are particularly vulnerable to abuse due to their dependency, innocence, and lack of physical and emotional strength. In addition, neglect of a child’s needs for attention, affection, and basic health needs is abusive.

Children who suffer any of these abuses repeatedly may develop many debilitating symptoms in adulthood.

Working with Paul to heal from child abuse

It is difficult to heal from these wounds alone, even with all the best books and Internet advice. Once you realize that you suffered abuse as a child, you may want help to heal.

Using Somatic Experiencing methods, I work with child abuse survivors to unlock the hold that an abusive past has on one’s present life.

Somatic Experiencing

What benefits might I experience?

Somatic Experiencing body-centered exercises will help you have new, positive and powerful experiences of being in your body, your life, and your vitality.

You will:

• repair damaged psychological or emotional boundaries,
• identify and build on safe or positive experiences in the present day (resources),
• learn to be present to body sensations and feelings in a healthy way,
• release the pent-up adrenalin, tension, or fear in the nervous system.