Tagged
healing journey
4 Lessons Life is Teaching Me About Friendships
Overcoming broken trust, I found freedom in redefining friendship. Here’s what I’ve learned about healing, boundaries, and connection.
Lessons from Roselyne's Journey
Roselyne’s story is raw and deeply inspiring. She could’ve stayed silent and let pain consume her. Instead, she used it to fuel a movement.
God’s Ways are Not Our Ways
I would read Matthew 6:33 half-heartedly. I was afraid that God would fail me. I saw my mother work hard in serving God and in her business, but we still went without food sometimes, missed out on rent and were sent home for lack of school fees.
Essential Considerations for Your Therapy Journey
First, you need to identify your pain. Are you experiencing mental or emotional turmoil that’s inhibiting your daily functions for more than a week?
Embracing Healing: A Personal Journey Through Therapy
"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." - Carl Jung
Speak Out with Caroline: Embracing the New
Change isn’t always easy. Many times though, it is inevitable and eventually works out for our good. Change could also come about as a result of choices we intentionally make. Choices that we will later look back on and be grateful for taking the bold step towards the freedom we have been searching for – knowingly or unknowingly.
Interview w/ Mental Health Coach Faith Gor on Healing, Forgiveness & Upcoming Coaching Program
Earlier this week, I interviewed my friend and sister Faith Gor who is part of our TWSC team. I'm currently in Harare, Zimbabwe and on the day of the interview, we were in the middle of tropical storm Ana. Despite some issues with the video quality, Faith and I had a powerful, powerful conversation.
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Press On!
A few years ago, I was not comfortable with the passage recorded in the Bible about the woman who had a gynecological condition that afflicted her for 12 years (Mark 5:25-34). This is because dysmenorrhea had fed me the bitter side of life. One day, when I was in pain, some lady commented sarcastically that I should “just touch the hem of His garment.”
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Grief
As survivors of child sexual abuse and assault, we have a lot to grieve for. We grieve the violation, loss of power, loss of relationships, loss of trust, sense of peace, dreams for the relationship, investments in the lost relationships, lost love. We grieve who we were before the offense, opportunity lost while healing, our control, boundaries violated, mental illness, time,
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Why I Didn't Tell
When I first opened up to my parent about my story of childhood sexual abuse, my enraged parent asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?” And the inner child replied in my heart, “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell.”Many times, when a survivor tells of the abuse they experienced, people ask, ‘Why didn’t you report immediately? Why are you bringing it up after all these years? Why don’t yo
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Dear Sex Offender
Are you alive or dead? I choose to imagine that you are alive because that’s what I feel on most days. I gave up on hoping that one day you’ll come to apologize for robbing me of my sexual innocence, dignity, peace, trust, hope, pure imagination, and sense of safety. I lived believing that my well-being was pegged on your apology, but no, it’s not. I craved your apology daily t
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Making Peace With God
Where is God when we are violated sexually? Where is He when children are abused sexually? Where was He when I was molested? These were questions I asked myself for a long time, but I never got answered. When people would attempt to answer me, I would end up resenting them, and I would withdraw from God even more.
TWSC Series: Footprints of a Survivor - It Was Never About Me
Many of my childhood memories are painful reminders of what I have had to endure. As others would lovingly reminisce on their blissful childhoods, I would often be stuck between a rock and a hard place about whether to lie and recount sunshine and ice cream or tell the truth.
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Healing is in the Process; it's Not a Destination
Naaman had to get into the dirty river for himself, by himself. Healing is an inside job. It’s an opportunity to get in tune with your soul, which then deepens the connection with your Creator. This is true because when Naaman came out of the water, he was completely healed, grateful and chose to praise the living God of Israel, that is God the Creator.
TWSC Series: Footprints of a Survivor - The Circle of Women
Throughout my life, I have had quite a number of mother figures. They’re a strong breed of women who have instilled in me the value of prayer, faith and persistence. In spite of that, the desire to hear what advice my mum would give me for every transitional phase of my life still lingers every day.
Broken but Beautiful: Separation
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Joseph recorded in the book of Genesis chapters 37-50. It’s a painful story that has a beautiful ending. Joseph’s mother died when he was still young. His father loved him more than his siblings and this made his brothers despise him to the extent of ganging up against him, mocking him for his extraordinary dreams, strippi
TWSC Series: Footprints of a Survivor - Shame
Footprints of a Survivor is a weekly column written by Kim Mukwa, a survivor of childhood physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Each week, she reveals the layers of pain she lived through, the damage it caused and the steps she is taking to heal emotionally.
TWSC Series: Footprints of a Survivor - The Motherless Daughter
For me, this has been my life. Like I said before, my mother left me as a baby but would often visit. Although I do not remember much of it, I do remember sitting on her lap, being fed by her, and it was my throne. I also recall a time when she brought me a little purse filled with coins as well as a green petticoat. I was between 5 and 6 years old, so you can understand why I
Broken but Beautiful: It's Not Just a Running Stomach
I love singing. I always thank God for my musical ear and the ability to enjoy music deeply. Unfortunately, I do not play any musical instrument, but I shall learn how to play one someday soon. I enjoy listening to well-blended vocals, and I particularly get an inexpressible feeling for minor harmonies, especially when the vocals are deep and rich! Blame it on endorphins and ox
TWSC Series: Navigating Through Pain -Rosa's Healing Journey
Ever watched the movie Heaven is for real? It is based on a true life story of a young boy narrating how he walked in heaven while he had been taken to theatre. I stumbled on it being aired on one of our local TV stations during the Christmas of 2019. I attest that heaven is for real, I am a living testimony that Jesus is alive, my encounter was a similar one. It finally dawned
TWSC Series: Footprints of a Survivor - An Introduction to Kim Mukwa
I am Kim Mukwa, born in 1988. I am a mother and wife and also a survivor of childhood physical, sexual and emotional trauma. My story is one of pain, horror, disbelief and a thousand questions without answers. And so, I really try to go through life the best way I know how, and that is to seek a place of healing and understanding. Basically, I’m taking it one day at a time, rid
Broken but Beautiful: Seeking Therapy
A friend sent me a message a week ago and asked, “When did you realise that you needed therapy?” Usually I would go ahead and give a detailed answer, but this time I chose to be curious. I asked her, “What therapy?” Maybe she meant hydrotherapy, speech therapy, physiotherapy, art therapy or light therapy. I didn’t want to make conclusions.
Broken but Beautiful: Don’t Give up on Healing, Help Will Come – Pt. 2
I learnt how to live with my dark secret until I was 19. I attended a youth conference organized by the church and I hoped to find GOD. The theme for that conference was based on the life of Joseph. The sessions were enriching but I would zone out and doze off through most of the sessions because a lot didn’t make sense then, but I liked the prayer sessions.
Broken but Beautiful: Don’t Give up on Healing, Help Will Come - Pt. 1
Growing up, I preferred being in two spaces: anywhere with my brothers or in school, particularly in class with my classmates because it felt safe. One afternoon we were called out to go for a girls-only session. I was eleven then and this was my first time attending such a session. I’m grateful we had the privilege of having talks on puberty, hygiene and how to relate with oth
Broken but Beautiful: Embracing the Scars
I was privileged to attend a youth empowerment program organised by the government, equipping the youth with life and business skills. This program ran for two weeks and in one afternoon, the facilitator walked in with three items wrapped like gifts.
Broken but Beautiful: Struggling with the Desire to Seek Revenge
My mother woke me up from an afternoon nap and after attending to her, I got enraged. I couldn’t understand why. I felt as though a heavy rock was laid on my chest. I could feel my heart’s palpitations and I started hyperventilating. I got flashbacks of painful memories, and I felt vengeful. My soul cried for justice.
TWSC Series: Broken but Beautiful - Choose to be a Woman
For a long time, I never had any interest in celebrating International Women’s Day. It made no sense to me. I saw nothing worthy of celebration in me. This day brought more blues than pink moments to me. It reminded me of my inadequacy, my weaknesses, and how much I detest being a woman.
TWSC Series: Navigating Through Pain - Rosa’s Healing Journey
Pain and death are a part of life; to reject them is to reject life itself. Experiencing loss can be devastating, but experiencing triple loss can be catastrophic. Everything seems to have fallen apart. Having experienced different versions of intense loss led to my grieving.
Kim's Healing Journey Pt. 4 [VIDEO]: Dealing with Setbacks
Sometimes we think the path to healing and deliverance from the pain we've experienced should be linear. We want to continue to progress steadily towards wholeness. The reality is that setbacks are inevitable in our healing journeys. What's important is that we give ourselves grace when we stumble. I like to think of healing as the process of cleaning up a mess caused by some e
Healthy Mind, Healthy You: Gearing up for the Fight
As you have now understood, the emotional healing process is no walk in the park. It is more of a battle that you need to prepare for. In our quest for healing and wholeness, it is important to realize that in every good thing you will ever want to do in life, you will face adversity. We don’t always accept this fact, so we don't prepare for it either.
Healthy Mind, Healthy You: Facing the Pain
It's not going to be easy but one of the best things you will ever do for yourself is facing your pain. I already described how emotional hurts can be similar to physical ones. So I will now describe the process of facing our pain using the process that we use for dealing with a flesh wound.
Healthy Mind, Healthy You: Our Scars in Disguise
Emotional hurt, unlike physical hurt, has no obvious scarring that we can all physically see and know that something happened and this person got hurt. This is how many people go on for years unaware of hurt that they still carry and still causes damage in their present lives.
Healing Moment: Growth is Never Perfect
Healing never looks perfect. One minute you're going one way, and the next, you take a sharp left. Be kind to yourself and extend the same amount of grace you would give someone you love to yourself.
Healing Moment: It's not for Naught
Losing something you once cherished can be devastating. And the pain may be debilitating for a while. But maybe you need to change your perspective. Could it be that what you lost never would have survived your new season? And maybe if it had, it would have drained the life out of you instead of nourish you.
Kim's Healing Journey Pt. 3 [VIDEO]: Haunted by the Shame of Sexual Abuse
This week, Kim bravely talks about the shame that haunted her as a result of the sexual abuse she suffered as a child. As she narrates her experience, you can hear the pain her voice.
Angela's Healing Journey Pt. 1 [VIDEO]: The Day I Left my Abuser
For years, Angela Mutie suffered gravely at the hands of an abusive partner. We featured her story on our site; you can read it here. It wasn't easy, but Angela found the courage to leave her abusive husband and began to rebuild her life with her son.
Celine's Healing Journey Part 2 [VIDEO]: Letting go of Shame
In her last video, Celine talked about the pain she lived with for many years from repeated abuse. This week she's talking about how shame consumed her and held her down. Watch her share how she was able to be free of shame:
Kim's Healing Journey Part 2 [VIDEO]: Dealing with my Anger
In Kim's first video, she talked about how difficult it was to come to terms with the abuse she experienced and trying to forgive her abuser so she could move forward with her life.
The Healing Process
Whenever an object cuts through the skin deep enough to puncture a vein or artery, we bleed. The amount of blood oozing out is determined by the depth and location of the cut. If the cut is superficial, the bleeding will be minor. If a major blood vessel is cut, bleeding will be substantial.
Celine's Healing Journey Part 1 [VIDEO] - Surviving a Life Filled with Trauma
One of the beloved members of our TWSC family is Celine Njoki. She first shared her story with us in December 2018 and I remember being horrified by the details of her story and amazed at her strength. You can read her story here.
Kim's Healing Journey Part 1 [VIDEO]: Wrestling with Unforgiveness
As a child, The Weight She Carries Contributor Kim Mukwa suffered extreme abuse at the hands of her stepmother. While she was helpless then, she is now taking back her power and sharing her healing journey with us.