"I like the group because you can explain how you feel, and what’s going on, and we help each other"

"I feel a lot better after the meetings. I was really worried about things before I came into the room. I feel better when I go out"

"You can talk in here. Nowhere else will they listen to you"

"You’ve always got someone to back you up"

"I feel very comfortable and safe in this group"

"A strength is being able to share with others"

"I’ve gained knowledge"

"You've got to step back to look at life before you can go forward"

"It’s good to be able to have somewhere to be able to write. Get it out of you. At home there is no-one. Has to be done with other people."

"For so long I felt there was something wrong with me and there isn’t"

"Biggest problem is communicating with the outside world what is/has happened. It’s emotionally hard. I needed someone to be positive to help me."

"I would just like to say that because of the group I've let go of the past, I'm enjoying the present and I can now look forward to the future."

 

Jan, a survivor of child abuse and domestic violence, wrote the following account specifically to read out at a Beyond Existing Annual General Meeting:

BEYOND EXISTING 2008

Throughout childhood l had very few friends one or two be that at home or school up to my teens when l found the courage to fight back. I always felt different (a misfit) and never knew why. "I was watching everyone on the merry-go-round of life while l stood and watched from the side line."

Through adult life l did make friends who have remained such even with very little contact they all have meant so much to me. I have usually made all the effort to keep in touch. Over the years l have been treated for depression: medication, psychiatric referral, hypnosis, family therapy with my daughter, recent counselling weekly for approximately two years. None of these interventions gave me any answers or understanding, however recent counselling has helped me to start to let go and try to move on.

Recent events (my sister’s disclosure of sexual abuse by our stepfather) has triggered forgotten memories, and resulted in our recent attendance at the Beyond Existing support group. The biggest surprise has been the immediate connection made to the other group members, who through the spoken word – sharing of similar experiences – body language and on occasion tears of true empathy have been a revelation to both of us. We realise the people we have disclosed to in the past could not offer this depth and profound understanding, they just sit and make notes.