Here’s me, doing my bit to participate weekly in Kelly’s Seven Quick Takes over at This Ain’t the Lyceum.

So here’s…

This Week’s Resources for Catholic Trauma Survivors

Takes. Best described as quick. Seven of them.

1. Why I Distrust Parents of Estranged Children is a great look into the unlikelihood that a child goes no contact with his/her parents “for no reason.”
2. Codependents and addicts alike, this one is for you! The Ask Christopher West podcast is a weekly take on listener questions answered by Theology of the Body couple Wendy & Christopher West. On their latest episode, Freedom from the Law, Q2 tackles the definition of godly selflessness (hint, codependents: it’s not doing everything for everyone and never needing anything), and Q3 tackles how living in Christ makes us free from the law (hint, addicts: this is a TOB take on what recovery actually is).
3. Project Create Offers Art Therapy to help DC kids survive and thrive through adverse childhood experiences.
4. On that same note (ha!), Music Beyond Measure provides trauma survivors the opportunity to “Sing Your Story.” Survivors are paired with volunteer musicians to write and perform a piece processing their survival experience. I’m not crying. You’re crying.
5. Not sure how useful this might be to you, but Reddit Helping Survivors Process Abuse is a story about how survivors find & support each other on the internet. If you’re looking for your support system, maybe Reddit would be a good fit to get started?
6. This Sunday’s gospel journaling page for trauma survivors will come out in a few hours, so please sign up here to get yours free through the end of November, 20202. I also invite you to join in some discussion over on my Broken Grown-up Nation Facebook page.
7. Last, any chance we can talk about this one: “Ask Scary Mommy: I Don’t Speak to My Narcissist Mom — What Do I Tell My Kids?” I had to face this problem myself, and my solution was similar to Scary Mommy’s solution… but as Catholics, can we talk about how maybe “going no contact” doesn’t have to equate “the narcissist will never change”? Just because I don’t want to give a person another opportunity to sin against me doesn’t mean I think that person can’t repent. I’m just confident that God doesn’t need me to be around to save that person’s soul.

Anyway, I would love to talk about the very strong conflict between “they’ll never change, and that’s why no contact is required” and the Christian believe that all souls can be saved, even the seeming worst. Somebody? Am I the only both/and out there on this?

Also, let me know how I may pray for you? Meanwhile, make sure you give Kelly & the SQT crew a look see.