Made up of over 86 billion neurons, the brain remains one of the most puzzling and amazing organs in our bodies. You need it to do pretty much everything, so it’s safe to say it runs the show. When adverse experiences take place in childhood, these can leave profound and often perplexing effects on the brain. Some of these experiences fall under different forms of maltreatment such as physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. All forms of child maltreatment have consistently been associated with an abundance of mental health problems and substance use and disorders. Since the brain is still in [...]

Born in Huntington, West Virginia, as a very young child I endured severe child sexual, physical and emotional abuse, domestic violence and complex trauma at the hands of my biological father and older brother. I was isolated and was not permitted to have friends, which was strictly enforced by whatever means necessary. My only friends were cats. A radio played in the basement constantly so the neighbors couldn’t hear the screams. My dad would tell me not to cry because it didn’t hurt when he would beat me. There were constant battles with the neighbors where my dad would pull [...]

The first thing I noticed going through the gates was how run down it looked. They ushered me inside and I heard nothing but silence in the hallways. There were girls walking around in single file lines from place to place but no one spoke at all. Classrooms were silent. There was no noise at all except maybe the wind or the staff. The staff were all Mexican and did not speak English. The only people there that did were the administrators who were American and turns out they owned the place. I would later learn that all these programs [...]

Many of you know me, or at least know of me, but I assume some of you might not, or perhaps you haven't actually heard my story. I attended an abusive program called Casa by the Sea when I was 15 years old. My crimes were skipping school and shoplifting, my punishment was Isolation, beatings and solitary confinement. When I acted out, I was made to sit cross-legged facing a wall for 14-16 hours a day, sometimes for a week or more, and when I refused I had my shoulder dislocated, and my face smashed into a concrete floor by [...]

When someone leaves an abusive environment, it’s common for those around them to assume their problems will lessen. If you leave an undesirable situation for something better, you should in turn feel better… right? The harsh reality is that trauma can follow you. This doesn’t mean a survivor chooses to allow trauma to linger, but more so that the events they underwent had a direct impact on their developmental arc. Extensive research into the future health consequences of child maltreatment has continuously shown a close association to mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and other mental health conditions. [...]