In this episode, I will be speaking with Sarah on her reflections on growing up in Canada and is now based in Ohio in the US. Sarah suffered from abuse growing up as a child and what we wanted to do was to unpack her narrative, how it affected her, how she has coped and dealt with it, and indeed how she frames it now as an adult. I wanted to have this chat with Sarah as one of the primal mandates of this podcast is to have real and vulnerable discussions that can both help and reframe others’ perspectives of adversity and navigate through the adversity of abuse. 

**Trigger warning** In this episode we touch on Sarah's recollections of abuse as a child, please be mindful that it contains some memories and depictions that might be difficult to hear. In the conversation we touch on a number of themes:

· The challenges that Sarah experienced growing up and the abuse, and how it shaped her youth.

· The spectrum of emotions that it brought with it. 

· Navigating the stress physically and mentally retrospectively.

· The bleed-over into relationships and how it affected them, particularly her husband. 

· Some of the methods of organic coping mechanisms and whether they worked or not.

· Counselling/therapy sessions that Sarah had. 

· Forgiveness and the daily practice of forgiveness. 

· What Sarah has learned through the whole process. 

· Final thoughts and take-home messages from Sarah

If this episode resonated with you or a family member, there are a number of services that you can reach out to: 

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/?gclid=CjwKCAjwtKmaBhBMEiwAyINuwGQKPfqOui9bRJZtlMsdp2clhr08aQ0hYA-Gr2xRIUY0nEoOAOTpDBoCFKkQAvD_BwE

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/talking-therapy-and-counselling/how-to-find-a-therapist/

https://www.kooth.com/

My thanks to Sarah for opening up and being prepared to have a truly honest and vulnerable conversation.