July 2010 Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse: Independence

Welcome to the Independence edition of the Carnival Against Child Abuse. Blog Carnivals are a great opportunity to sample a variety of Blog offerings on a common topic. There are so many child abuse recovery and advocacy resources out there. I hope you find something of use to you! I have enjoyed reading and participating in this Blog Carnival and am happy to give back by hosting it this month.

Independence Themed Posts

Patricia Singleton from Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker has shared two independence themed posts: True Independence Comes From In-dependence and Independence, Not Just For A Day . She share with us her philosophy that “True independence comes from listening to the voice within or in-dependence – dependence on Self.”

Next up are two powerful and thought-provoking entries by Colleen from Surviving by Grace. Check out her Declaration of Independence and  Longing to Be Free.

mountainmama from sharing our spaces was also thinking about independence this month . I like the idea of a list of things one wants more independence from and the focus on progress made.

I always find Marj aka Thriver from Survivors Can Thrive! inspiring. Read her Freedom Is A Natural High, which she describes as follows: “I think one of the biggest things that survivors of child abuse want in their lives is freedom. We were slaves to our captors, abusers, predatory parents. What we want now is healing and freedom to finally live our own lives.”

Mind Parts wrote something especially for this months theme:  Thoughts on (In)Dependence. I am so glad you did!

castorgirl from Scattered pieces imagines a life of self-determination in Looking into the future. What a great exercise, envisioning what “healed” will look like for you!

Kerro from Kerro’s Korner writes about the value of learning to be less independent in the post Blog Carnival against Child Abuse: Independence. I really like the idea of “finding the right balance”.

Dan L Hays from Thoughts Along The Road to Healing has shared a powerful visualization that afforded his inner child great freedom: Independence Day – Little Danny Set Free! . Thank you!

Vicki Johnson from Here In My World writes about the connection between learning not to blame yourself and Independence.

My thoughts about independence this month led me to thinking What about Interdependence? I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Advocacy & Awareness

smartnews is sharing information about ritual abuse from the Child Abuse Wiki: Ritual Abuse – Child Abuse Wiki .

Thank you Mind Parts for organizing and informing us about another healing resource, the Expressive Arts Carnival. He says:”I invite you to check out a companion Carnival where survivors can submit what they have done related to a monthly theme to build a healing community.” I hope this really takes off!

Oleg O. Kaminetskiy of Charts’n’Stats shares  “Statistical Information on child homicide for 1999-2007 represented in charts..since humans are generally able to infer meaning from pictures quicker than from text.” via CHILD HOMICIDE IN U.S.

Aftermath

Lily from Locating My Life wrote about how she feels in different relationships/settings in Two Different People.

h.g. from Don’t Call Me Sybil writes An Open Letter to D.H. Lawrence. What a creative way to approach the question of freedom.

Sarah123 from Writing has an inspiring post full of healing and growth: Changes.

shen from Reunited Selves describes a very powerful sort of freedom, that of recognizing and accepting what we cannot get from a parent in the post Father’s Day.

Rebecca Pittman from Seared with Scars shares Realizing My Strength with us. Thank you!

Lothlórien describes the role and importance of invalidation and validation for trauma survivors: Invalidation and the Validation that Matters Most and what it means to be a trauma survivor in Survival.

Art Therapy *NEW*

gilbert satchell invites us to explore his blog, GilbertSatchell’s Blog, full of his art, which he describes this way: “my art is nothing more than my brain on PTSD”.

Healing & Therapy

Inner Family’s submission Sometimes I don’t make sense, gives us a look at “close encounters with dissociative identity disorder”.

Patricia Singleton from Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker shares an unconventional method for releasing body memories in her post, Using Cranio-Sacral Chiropractic Adjustments And Emotional Freedom Techniques To Release Body Memories of Incest.

shen from Reunited Selves presents Step Zero, a post related to healing from codependency.

Mike McBride from Child Abuse Survivor writes about “feeling powerless and dependent when, in fact, we really aren’t” in Powerless.

Lothlórien writes about the healing power of relationships in Attachment and the Therapeutic Relationship and Friends on the Journey.

Poetry

cornnut32 from picture of experience was inspired to write independence: a sort of poem this month.

shen from Reunited Selves presents Such Wild Wild which includes “… poetry and artwork from when I was a teenager.”

Thank you so much for making this a content-packed Blog Carnival edition! You can submit your blog articles and art  to the next edition of the Carnival Against Child Abuse here.

Kathleen Young, Psy.D.