Official Blog of Svava Brooks | Healing from Abuse & Trauma

Discussing Leaving Neverland (And the Consequences of Shame)

denial grooming hbo documentary male survivors shame Mar 13, 2019

Photo credit: HBO

This past week, HBO aired a documentary special called Leaving Neverland, directed and produced by Dan Reed, a British filmmaker. The documentary focuses on two men, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who were (allegedly) sexually abused as children by Michael Jackson for years.

This documentary did a powerful job of describing the grooming process victims go through and how these young boys and families were drawn into the world of fame and fortune. It had devastating consequences and a lasting impact on these men and their families.

My husband, David, and I watched the two-part documentary together. After the first night, we sat and talked. David asked me how I was feeling after watching this because the descriptions the men gave of the abuse was graphic at times. It was hard to hear, to imagine the little boys being abused in those ways. All I could feel was sadness. It stirred my heart to hear a story I have heard so many times before. The stories of...

The Only Way to Get Rid of Shame

abuse survivor break the cycle inner child shame svava brooks Jul 12, 2018

This past week in the online group we have been talking about shame. It is always a challenging topic but it is crucial for victims of abuse to understand in order to feel free from shame.

The feeling most people avoid feeling is shame. I love Brené Brown's work around shame and her research, books, and Ted talks shed a light onto what she calls the master feeling because when we have internalized shame, it becomes the lens for how we view the world and ourselves in it. And it isn't until we understand how it impacts us, that we can consider the possibility that there is another way to see and feel about ourselves.

Survivors of child abuse develop toxic shame because of the lack of support they get from caregivers and family to process what was done to them. Trauma becomes internalized without support soon after the abuse happened. The child feels and experiences abandonment and extreme confusion when they are hurt by someone they know and love,...

Svava Brooks - Trauma Recovery Coach

Discussing Leaving Neverland (And the Consequences of Shame)

The Only Way to Get Rid of Shame

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