Publisher's Synopsis
For me, returning to therapy after twenty years, only to discover that the pain I'd left behind years ago was only hiding under the surface and waiting to reappear in memories, daydreams, and nightmares. As a sexual abuse survivor, I thought I was bad, defective, crazy, and alone. I felt unwanted, rejected, hated, and despised for a lengthy portion of childhood. The trauma was ingrained in my mind, soul, and body.
How would I recover from the lingering effects of childhood trauma and achieve a rich and fulfilling life despite the emotional flashbacks and self-injuring response that childhood trauma forces some survivors to adopt? The linear progression of recovery, focusing on identifying what I've already accomplished and learning to figure out what is best to work on and prioritize now to recognize the signs of recovery and develop reasonable expectations about the recovery rate, became the plan. So, with the aid of a psychiatrist (medicine) and psychotherapist (counseling), I, Avery, tackle the sudden and flooding thoughts by working through the past and grounding myself to the present using psychodynamic therapy interwoven with cognitive behavioral therapy.
