On Loving Others Well (Part 6: Understanding)

I never tell a survivor, “I understand your pain.” I don’t.

I met monthly for a year with four survivors in an intimate setting created to stimulate healing. I never heard one survivor say to another, “I understand.” These women knew something non-survivors don’t often consider—every survivor’s abuse history and the consequences of their abuse are different.

When we love survivors well, we remember this, and we listen with fresh ears to each survivor.