PSI Seminars: What happend at PSI 7
Date: April 09, 2004 10:46AM
when you can stand to do so, write a description of what you went through. Address the physical, emotional and social context.
Writing things down helps stablize memory and helps you restore your ability to trust your perceptions of reality--vital to recovery.
I would recommend that you work carefully with your therapist to ensure that you're grounded enough to handle the stress of doing this.
You're ready to go public when you trust your perception of reality enough that you dont need others to validate you. If you go public too soon,
1) You may risk distracting yourself from painful, scary work you still need to do in therapy. Activism and education are vital, but if we jump too quickly into the activist phase of recovery, we may risk distracting ourselves from therapy or incurring a new round of trauma.
2) There are people out there who say cruel, invalidating things when we try to give warnings about spiritual malpractice & New Age frauds. Unless you're solid in your recovery, these invalidating comments can be upsetting and very depressing.
I did not write a letter to my perpetrator until I reached a point where I did not need anything from him, and knowing and telling the truth was its own reward.
Finally, be very, very careful about getting involved with the media. Rick Ross can give you helpful pointers.
Check the background of any journalist, especially freelance writers. Dont just read the material they give you. Google them.
Two, if you are interviewed, keep records of the interview, because you cannot ask the reporter or the editor to read your transcript back to you. They can and will refuse. Making a recording is the only way to ensure you will not be misquoted.
Even when you do this, reporters may abridge your statements, or quote you alongside other people, so what you say will could come out making a different impact than you intended.
Finally, only work with journalists who have an established background with this kind of material.