Healing from Childhood Abuse: A Very Personal Journey with Divine Purposes for the Soul

Suffering from abuse as a child, whether it is verbal, physical, or sexual, can have a significant impact on your life as an adult. Often, people who are abused at a young age experience problems relating with others on a personal level. This is because their earliest experiences with relationships brought them pain, and eroded their trust and belief in others. The very people who were supposed to love and protect them introduced them to a world of hurt instead. Because of this treatment early in life, there are special challenges that people who are abused face regarding self-esteem, feelings of abandonment, a lack of feeling safe and loved, and the ability to trust others.

Fear of Retribution Leads to Underreporting and Unhealthy Relationships

Often, cases of abuse go unreported. Children who are abused are usually threatened by their abusers with more pain, or even death, if they tell someone about the horrors that they are living through. The people committing the abuse may also put the responsibility for the abuse on the children by telling them that it is their fault it is happening. Because children are in the formative stages of social development and look to adults for behavioral cues, they often accept the blame and internalize the resulting pain and confusion. Therefore, children often suffer in silence. In their minds, they are afraid to tell anyone and often pretend that they are happy, even when they are suffering. They become masters at hiding their feelings by keeping problems and secrets to themselves. They also may come to believe that their feelings are not as important as those of others, and may often put the needs of others before their own. These learned behaviors are a direct result of the way their abusers treated them. Tragically, this forms a skewed and damaged basis for future relationships for many of these children.

Healing Over a Lifetime

The personal journey of healing from childhood abuse may involve a lifetime of searching for peace, trust, safety, and love. Forgiveness plays a very important role in the healing process, as does learning how to love who you are. As adults, we can look back and try to make peace with what has occurred by extending forgiveness to all who have hurt us. Remember, forgiveness does not mean that you condone hurtful actions, it means that you consciously release painful situations in order to move forward with your life and growth. You may even get to the point where you see how these events made you more compassionate and empathetic toward others. Therapy and self-help books may also play an important role in working through the pain by learning how to relate to others and to build trust. Even though these steps may be taken, some people may still experience difficulties in their relationships. Because of the damage from the past, certain issues may trigger negative memories and, therefore, cause guards to be raised due to a perceived threat to their emotional or physical safety. Left unaddressed, the angst may build to unprecedented levels. The pressure may cause that person to withdraw from relationships, become depressed or even suicidal, lash out at others for seemingly no reason, express extreme fear or distrust, engage in unhealthy behaviors, cause self-inflicted pain, or exhibit other negative behaviors that are not easily comprehended by others.

Support and Love from Above

The true pathway to freedom from the effects of childhood abuse begins from within. It is a very spiritual and personal journey. People who are or have been abused need to know that their feelings matter, that their voice is heard, and that they are safe and loved. They also need to know that their experiences were not a punishment from God. As a person who has experienced childhood abuse firsthand, I know this journey well. I have traversed every aspect of its effects and have searched high and low for the reasons, as well as how I can heal and get back the trust and feeling of safety that was taken from me. From the depths of my soul, I have searched for ways to help myself and others with these issues. Therapy has helped; however, the most powerful answers and guidance I have received have come from my heavenly support team, including God. In order to receive the information, I had to go within and pay attention to what they were communicating with me through my soul.

My First Meeting with God

The first time God came to me, I was struggling with relationship issues. I felt like I was running on a treadmill of recycling negative issues and going nowhere fast. I was getting mad at God and asking why I was experiencing the same issues over and over again. In great despair one night,...

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About Spirit Medium Karen T. Hluchan

Karen T. Hluchan is a spirit medium, motivational speaker, Reiki master, and author of How Have You Loved? Through her mediumship practice, Healing Spirit with Love, she devotes her time to the healing of spirit on earth through her connection with heaven. Her passion for her calling is shared through the spirit readings, demonstrations, and workshops she provides, as well as through her writing and Reiki. All of her work is inspired by the divine light that is within us all. She has a great love of nature, people, and the planet, and she enjoys her connection in spirit, both here and in heaven.

To learn more about Karen, who is based in Horsham, Pennsylvania, and her book, How Have You Loved?, visit her website at www.HealingSpiritWithLove.com.