Episode 8 - Trust - What is it?

apologies for the poor sound quality had some technical difficulties

'Trigger Warning' if you or someone you know has been affected by sexual abuse please remember the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre 24-Hour Helpline 1800 77 8888

In today’s podcast we will discuss another of the hidden psychological impacts of childhood sexual abuse, trust.  Although trust may be a small word, the lack of trust in our life has had devastating effect on who and how we were in the world.

We can honestly say we didn’t really understand what trust even looked like. We all had different understanding of what it meant to trust. Because we were abused from childhood and although we knew we weren’t safe at home, in order to survive in that environment, we trusted our father, as mad as that may sound.

Our father was the biggest influence in our lives, he controlled everything in and out of the house. We were dependent on him for everything and mistook this dependency for trust. As bad as he was, he was all we had, and he knew it.

As we grew, our inability to trust people made us suspicious of everyone’s motives and yet, naively, time and time again we willingly let others take control believing they knew better. The constant negative messages our father had fed us went in much deeper that we realised, and it has taken us many years to let them go.

Trust is all about looking inside, trusting in yourself first and letting go of the lies you have been told. It has taken us time, but our understanding of trust and our willingness to challenge our beliefs, has led us to make real connections.  

We hope that sharing our experience will help you understand the importance of examining your thoughts about trust and any issues you may be having. It is important to be kind to yourself and acknowledge you are a survivor and its your strength and courage that has you here today.

Please share and spread the word……

Take care

Joyce, June and Paula