There was a sadness about her as she spoke. she had limited English skills but her expressions and tone conveyed meaning eloquently. ‘He does not hit me anymore’ she said. I wondered If the tone I heard projected sadness, regret or longing. She said after a couple times I called the police, they came and warned him. She went on, now the abuse is emotional but I preferred when he hit me. She did not cry, in fact, silence descended on the room, my heart broke and still break every time I remember her face. I made a promise then to spend my time helping women find the answer to this question.
This is a haunting question that many ask as they climb out of the pain of an abusive situation. Can emotional abuse heal? The answer is yes, all wounds can heal. Sometimes the pain of emotional abuse can appear lasting, the hurt can linger for a long time.
Individuals tend to hide this hurt beneath work, drugs, food, shopping and a myriad of other things to cover and pretend it does not exist. However, this is difficult to do and you will be unsuccessful. Over the years talking with and counseling with many women, a lot try to pretend the pain does not exist by ignoring it. I often hear, I just move on. I listen knowing just moving on is almost impossible because the effects are visible in some other areas of life. Nevertheless, there are the few courageous women who will bravely ask the question can emotional abuse heal?
Emotional abuse can attack a person self-esteem and inflict lasting impact on the rest of their lives. It has the potential to damage worth and will lessen your value even in your own eyes.
Notwithstanding, there are many miss conceptions about emotional abuse, many feel this could never happen to me, this is said with an air of authority and an attitude of superiority, as this is repeated I often think of the woman perhaps in the audience or hearing distance thinking what separates us, why did it happen to me. I have addressed this in many blogs however I will repeat it here. Abuse has no boundaries, it does not respect age, gender, ethnicity, social class, social standing, wealth or poverty. This might also be phrased, can abuse happen to anyone at any time? I believe a more important thought to ponder would be to ensure you have the skills to get out if it should it begin.
To be able to answer the question can abuse heal you will need to be willing to face the things that unfortunately appear in the aftermath of leaving an abusive situation.
there is support available to help you regain your self-esteem, find your identity once more and give you hope and freedom in Christ.
Can abuse heal? absolutely?. The question reminded me of another question, this one asked by Jesus as He engaged with the man at the pool of Bethesda, ‘wilt thou be made whole?’. This gives hope and assurance that your question can begin to change, you can get to the place where you no longer have to ask can emotional abuse heal? The answer for you will be a resounding yes because you would have caught a vision of the faith the man at the pool had as he looked into the face of Jesus. Every time you hear yourself ask can emotional abuse heal? think of Jesus’s question, the answer was in His query. As you do this exercise have the assurance that you too will be made whole.