Dear Friend,

After an absence of a few months due to family reasons, I have managed to catch up on some of the submissions for Hidden Hurt, though there are quite a few more stories, poems and pages waiting to go online, which I will hopefully manage to do fairly soon!

In the meantime, here are a few personal stories which have been sent to Hidden Hurt to share with you:

Margaret's Domestic Violence Story - Margaret's story started when she was just a child witnessing abuse herself and took her through two abusive relationships as an adult before she came out victorious and with a firm belief the God had led her and her children to safety. Margaret is now a well known speaker and advocate.

Gemma's Domestic Abuse Story - Gemma's domestic abuse story is one that could be echoed up and down the country. The clues that the relationship would turn out abusive were there from the beginning, but hope drew Gemma in and shame kept her from leaving even after the situation had turned violent. Here Gemma shares her experiences for other women who might believe it is not really serious abuse.

Hidden Talents - Jena, at 13, wrote the following account of the hidden talents she found living with abuse and standing up to her bully for a school talent show.

Orla's Domestic Abuse Story - In Orla's domestic abuse story, her prince Charming did not turn out to be a frog, but an abuser. Having escaped the abuse herself, she now finds herself in a position of not being able to protect her daughter.

Sarah's Physical Abuse Story - Little did Sarah know that the boy she had admired growing up would provide her with her very own physical abuse story. Here are Sarah's words as she charts her descent into and then back out of the trap so many of us recognise.

A VERY BIG thank you for sending those personal stories in, please keep them coming. The Personal DV Stories section of Hidden Hurt is the most visited part of the whole site and I receive countless messages telling me how helpful, enlightening and comforting it is for victims and survivors of abuse to read the stories of others in similar situations. When we are suffering in an abusive relationship, it so often feels as though we are the only ones who are going through such an experience and that nobody else could understand how it feels, or that we must in some way be mental, bad or at fault for suffering abuse. Reading about the experiences and feelings of other survivors helps tremendously in realising that we are not alone, that there is a way of escaping the abuse and that there is the possibility of recovery and a happier life in the future. If you have a story to tell or would like to share a poem or other thoughts, please send it to stories@hiddenhurt.co.uk.

Freedom Programme Online Course

Some brilliant news! The free Freedom Programme is now online. It is funded by the Department of Education and hosted by the Single Parent Action Network UK. Single parents in the UK qualify for a free copy of The Dominator and the Freedom Programme Home Study Course - but if you can afford to buy the accompanying books, please do, even if you do theoretically qualify for free copies (they have been overwhelmed with request since starting the online course - and buying the books helps provide free services and courses for those who need them).

There is some info on the Freedom Programme on Hidden Hurt including a video of Pat Craven explaining her background and the reason why she started the Freedom Programme at Freedom Programme. The new online course is at Online Freedom Programme.

Finally ...

A quick reminder. If you send me an email, I will only reply if it states within the email that it is safe to do so or if it is obvious from the content that you are no longer at risk of abuse. I am also not qualified to give legal advice or counselling - if you need specific advice on housing or professional help, please contact the National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0800 2000 247 (UK). For general support and to simply talk about and discuss your situation, remember that we also run a joint UK/US message forum which is very active and superbly supportive (you can find the link to the forum on the left-hand side of all the pages on Hidden Hurt).

All the best,

Lindsey
www.hiddenhurt.co.uk