Healing is a holistic and dynamic process that involves the restoration of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being after experiencing challenges, trauma, or distress. Healing is not just the absence of symptoms; it encompasses a journey toward overall wellness and a sense of wholeness. The path to healing is unique for each individual and may involve a combination of self-care practices, professional support, and personal growth.
There are moments in life when decisions feel urgent. When emotions are high, relationships feel uncertain, or fear begins to whisper that something must be done now. In those moments, we often believe we are thinking clearly — but in reality, we are usually reacting rather than choosing. A decision made in emotional turbulence is rarely… Read More Let Your Decisions Come From a Place of Peace
One of the most confusing experiences for survivors is discovering years of letters, cards and messages saying: “I’m sorry.” “I know I’ve hurt you.” “I’ll change.” Yet the behaviour never changes. How can someone repeatedly acknowledge their actions and still continue the same pattern for decades? The Cycle of Abuse Psychologists have long recognised a… Read More Why Do Serial Abusers Leave a Trail of Apologies? The Psychology and Neuroscience Behind the Pattern
Packing up a home after thirty-two years is an emotional experience. You expect to find old photographs, forgotten receipts, and the odd missing sock. What you don’t expect is to find a trail of handwritten letters and cards from the person who made you feel so small for so long. As I empty cupboards and… Read More The Letters I No Longer Need to Read
One of the most frustrating experiences reported by survivors is not only the abuse itself, but the reaction they receive when they finally disclose it. A relative may say: “I doubt he’ll kill you.” “He wouldn’t do that.” “You’re overthinking it.” “Just leave and move on.” Then, when separation or divorce begins, the same relative… Read More I doubt he’ll kill you.
Coercive control is often misunderstood because many people imagine abuse as a series of isolated violent incidents. In reality, coercive control is usually a pattern of domination that gradually strips away a person’s freedom, confidence, independence, and sense of self. 1. The abuse develops gradually The relationship may start with affection, attention, promises, and emotional connection. Control… Read More The abuse develops gradually
Beauty and cruelty are not simply about appearance. In psychology and neuroscience, the qualities that make someone beautiful “inside and out” are usually linked to empathy, emotional regulation, kindness, integrity, and healthy relationships. Cruelty and sadism are often associated with low empathy, entitlement, hostility, unresolved trauma, personality disorders, or learned patterns of domination and control.… Read More Beautiful Person vs Cruel Person
One of the strangest parts of healing is that you don’t always realise how unhealthy your situation was until you leave it behind. When you live in an environment for decades, it becomes your normal. You adapt. You make excuses. You lower your expectations. You tell yourself that all relationships are difficult, that everyone has… Read More When You Finally Meet Healthy People
A friend once described my situation as being like peeling back the layers of an onion. At first, I thought that if I looked hard enough, asked enough questions, and tried hard enough to understand, I would eventually find the truth. I believed there had to be a reason for the behaviour, a hidden explanation… Read More The Rotten Onion
Sometimes it is not the big things that hurt the most. It is the small things. You visit their home and notice photographs of family members on display. Parents, siblings, children, friends, holidays, celebrations, and treasured memories are all visible. But there is no photograph of you. You look around and realise that gifts you… Read More When You Seem to Have Disappeared from Their World
There comes a point in some family relationships when it becomes necessary to stop listening to explanations and start looking at patterns. If decades have passed with no shared holidays, no family celebrations, no meaningful effort to spend time together, no shared Christmases, no birthdays unless you organise and pay for everything yourself, it is… Read More When Decades of Distance Tell Their Own Story
Linda C J Turner | Trauma Therapist & Emotional Healing Specialist 