Let's Write About S-E-X
Let’s address the potentially large elephant in the room — talking or writing about sex can be difficult for a lot of people. To be honest, it’s still something I struggle with. Sex can be complicated, messy, triggering, and a whole bunch of other things, especially for sexual trauma survivors. But it can also be beautiful, wonderful, healing, and more.
I think it’s appropriate to tell you that I’ve skirted around talking/writing about sex in public for a long time. I’ve stayed on the edges of the conversations, adding my two cents, but never completely letting go of the uncomfortableness and shame that the topic brought up for me.
But the deeper I’ve gone into my trauma recovery training and the more clients I work with who have had sexual trauma — the more I see the need to be in the conversation, not just on the sidelines. I was recently interviewed for a summit on healing after sexual trauma and I knew this was the opportunity I’d been waiting for to fully embrace my own story of sexual trauma and the part I play in helping others embrace their stories of sexual trauma.
I thought about all the ways I could approach this post: telling my own story, highlighting how I’ve used the power of words to help heal the deep wound left by my trauma. I considered writing a short story to help illustrate the point. I thought maybe I should give you a bunch of studies that back up the claim that writing about our experiences helps us heal.
But when I really thought about the best way to convey the power of writing, reading, and healing, I thought about the countless articles, books, and stories I’ve read that have inspired me to do the work I do with survivors.
There are so many brave individuals who have experienced the healing properties of writing about their sexual trauma and I want to encourage and lift them up. This list is by no means exhaustive (both a sad reality and a beautiful sign of healing) but it’s a place to start exploring how writing can be used to tackle the topic of sex and sexual trauma. It’s a chance for their stories to be a source of hope and inspiration for others.
If after reading these powerful stories, you feel like telling or writing your story can help you heal, I encourage you to check out two programs I’ve built to do just that. My Write to Heal: An Introduction to Expressive Writing and Journaling is a great way to learn how to start writing about your experiences in a safe and guided way. My Writing Fiction to Heal Workshop is all about taking those raw, painful experiences and exploring them in a fictional and safe environment. Listen, your trauma, experiences, and story matter. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, what age you are or what you’ve been told in the past — you have the right to heal and to harness the power of words to do it in your own way. You matter.
http://www.startribune.com/the-power-of-telling-and-writing-of-sexual-assault/282770631/
https://www.wihe.com/article-details/105/writing-about-surviving-and-being-an-expert-on-sexual-assault/
https://www.them.us/story/writing-through-trauma-sexual-assault
https://collegian.csufresno.edu/2019/09/creative-writing-heals-authors-trauma-as-sexual-assault-victim/#.XjxVGRNKh0J
https://healwritenow.com/3726-2/
https://time.com/5221206/myriam-gurba-sexual-assault-humor-power/
http://www.wiseinkblog.com/writing-2/using-writing-and-creativity-to-heal-from-abuse/
http://www.thebreathenetwork.org/sexual-healing-after-trauma
