04/02/2020
âPandemic of a Different Kindâ
by Peter Celum, M.Div
Christian Counseling & Conciliation
ccandcservices.com
âPandemicâ â defined by Merriam Webster as âoccurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population.â The word certainly has found a permanent place in our personal and universal vocabulary with the ongoing threat of the coronavirus or Covid-19. The invisible enemy has the attention of the world. We are educated on its symptoms and continue to take extreme measures to prevent the spread of the virus. At the time of this writing, fortunately there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Lassen County and surrounding area, and we hope and pray this number doesnât change. However, are you aware of another pandemic that has already reached Lassen County that is affecting hundreds, even possibly thousands of victims?
Child Sexual Abuse â national estimates are one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before age 18. I daresay these numbers are even higher in our area. Letâs do the simple math in our local adult population. Conservatively, if one out of five adults out of an estimated adult population of 5,000 were victims of child sexual abuse (CSA), we have 1,000 adults in our community impacted by this pandemic. And this number doesnât include the children who are currently being victimized! I shudder to think of the number of innocent children who are at even greater risk during our current shelter-in-place and social distancing. Approximately 90% of child sexual abuse victims know their abuser, friends or family members, from their âsafe world.â I certainly knew my perpetrator as a child â a pe*****le pastor and community leader.
The coronavirus certainly is teaching us the importance of understanding facts instead of reacting out of fear. It is also of paramount importance that we learn facts about CSA to stop this pandemic. Donât worryâŠyou donât need to stock up on toilet paper to stop CSA. What we need is more understanding of this invisible enemy.
Child sexual abuse shatters the soul of the victim, with survivors struggling with the remaining fragments left behind from the perpetrator(s). Many survivors of sexual abuse and assault do their best to live with the long-term impacts of trauma - such as PTSD, acute anxiety, depression, and generous servings of unrelenting shame. Shame leads to coping strategies, including addictions in various forms as attempts to self-medicate the pain of a shattered soul. Linda Crockett, founder of Samaritan SafeChurch and national director of Safe Communities, shares âIt is not uncommon for survivors to have a high need for control, given that our bodies were broken into. For many who were violated repeatedly as children, the break-ins were a continual theft, leaving our spirits in a state of homelessness when our bodies became occupied territory.â
Some of us are able to manage our chronic PTSD or anxiety fairly well for years until we are hit with an unexpected triggering event that destabilizes our physical and emotional well-being. Basic bodily functions such as eating, digestion, sleep and more are all heavily impacted when PTSD is your dance partner. The trigger often has to do with a loss of control - a sudden job loss, severe injury or illness, divorce, moving and a multitude of other curves life throws at us. While these are anxiety producing events for non-traumatized people, for survivors it may mean a plunge into a reactivated trauma mode. Life for survivors is often a series of unstable relationships and re-enactments of these unresolved trauma issues.
The good news is healing and restoration is possible for survivors of child sexual abuse and the pandemic can be stopped! The healing path consists of truth-telling, accountability, support, and justice, and it always occurs in the context of community. Social isolation is not part of the cure. The antidote to shame is acceptance. We may need to practice social isolation in real time to help stop the spread of Covid-19; but survivors of CSA need to come together and heal in community. We need each other.
This healing community is growing in the Susanville area. On the first and third Tuesday of the month, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, Healing Hearts meets as a recovery group for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The mission statement is clear â Healing Hearts exists to facilitate recovery to survivors of child sexual abuse through safe, accepting relationships in a supportive, faith-friendly environment. Healing Hearts recovery group meets at 55 N. Union St, Suite C, in Susanville. There is no charge to participate in the group, though participants are strongly encouraged to obtain a copy of Dr. Dan Allenderâs book, Healing the Wounded Heart and its accompanying workbook. Participants discuss and apply the content of the book in each meeting. In this supportive environment where survivor wisdom is shared, participants can experience the kintsugi effect â the Japanese artform of fixing broken pottery with seams of gold, giving the art piece a unique and beautiful second life. The promise of fragments of a shattered soul being restored into a masterpiece can become a personal reality!
Healing Hearts recovery group grew out of the Samaritan SafeChurch initiative, a collaboration of five Susanville area churches (Eagle Lake Community Church, Community Church, Lassen Missionary Baptist Church, Susanville Church of the Nazarene, and Susanville Assembly of God). This cluster of churches met in 2018 to become proactive in protecting children in the church and community by preventing and responding to child sexual abuse. In addition to prevention, the year-long collaboration included intervention by ministering to adult victims of CSA, including a survivorâs retreat called âTamar Speaksâ. Out of this day-long retreat, Healing Hearts was born and continues to grow. Participants testify to the healing power of Healing Hearts: one participant shares âThe group is like a second family; they support me on my healing journey.â Another participant shares, âReading Healing the Wounded Heart stopped me from feeling alone; it stopped my shame. Healing Hearts helped me realize old agreements based on lies which I need to break, and new agreements based on truth which I need to make. The group has helped me face my fears and create friendships that I cherish.â
Healing Hearts recovery group is open to both men and women. For more information, please contact Peter Celum at 559-286-8558 or peter@ccandcservices.com. Working together we can put an end, or at least slow the spread, of this pandemic which is affecting well over a thousand local souls!
Christian Counseling & Conciliation provides personal counseling with Biblical principles.
