A conversation between Jennifer Parker, MSSW and LaDonna Carey, M.A. LaDonna Carey is a specialist in Betrayal Trauma with over 33 years of experience. She provides psychotherapy virtually and in her private practice in Kingsport, TN. She is the creator of SOS Sharpening Our Skills for therapists. I invited Carey to talk about forgiveness, something she is going to delve deeper into at the Smoky Mountain Symposium on Relational Trauma in October. Jennifer: Forgiveness after b

What Survivors Need and Therapists Should Understand When you begin to talk about abuse in your relationship, family and friends are often the first people you seek support from. Sometimes, that is where your confusion deepens. Recently, a survivor I will name Jasmine made a comment that captures how difficult it can be to communicate what you experience. “Often, fear of the backlash is why people stay in abusive relationships or remain quiet. . . That’s a difficult place to

Seeing forgiveness as emotional self-care may sound strange. Especially if you experienced an abuser telling you to forgive when they haven’t changed. Forgiveness can be premature if done too early. Refocusing on you and your emotions is an important step in healing. Allow yourself to feel anger and find ways to recover from the pain you experience. This frees you to determine anything you want to change about yourself or your relationships. Therefore, forgiveness should not

Anger Starvation and Positive Admission are two constructive ways of dealing with another’s anger, disappointment, or frustration.