Feelings of Guilt & Shame

Many people use these two words interchangeably.

Often well-meaning individuals will make statements that we, as survivors, ought not to feel guilt or shame and that those feelings belong to the abuser or those that colluded in some way with them.

But it isn’t as easy as that – if only it were.

As individual survivors we need to explore ‘why’ we have these feelings, what purpose have they served and where did they come from. Only then can we begin to let them go, as we gradually learn where the guilt and shame truly lies – elsewhere.