Susan's Story

When Susan Jones* first came into our counseling program, she had experienced severe trauma around domestic and sexual assault. Susan was in a violent relationship where she was raped as well as verbally and emotionally abused. Susan was also faced with being isolated from her family and friends due to her relocation from another state. She did not have a job since fleeing the abusive relationship where all financial responsibilities fell on the abuser. At this point she was attempting to regain her independence and financial stability. After utilizing counseling services, Susan began to self identify all those strengths she once lost while in the abusive relationship. She has been able to make great strides and reestablishing her self-worth and her voice. Susan also took advantage of our other programs such as legal advocacy services to identify what her rights were as well as legal assistance referrals.

We saw Susan change in the following ways: her self-esteem and self-worth improved, she was able to gain the confidence to seek and secure employment all in the midst of trying to heal from her trauma and managing coping during a global pandemic. She was able to secure a job working remotely from home due to many stay at home orders which worked perfectly for her since she was not quite ready to face the world and run the risk of running into her abuser. Susan is now employed, happy and still recognizes that she has more healing and growth to do but she is very pleased with how resilient she has been and how bright her future is.

Our hope for Susan is that she is always aware of her worth, recognizes her triggers and utilizes the coping skills that have been able to get her through the toughest moments in life. She is a survivor and an overcomer.

*Name has been changed due to confidentiality.