Lost for words

I had expected to come from the When Survivors Give Birth Workshop in Seattle with an overload of information to share. Instead, I find myself lost for words. A hesitancy to put into writing the enormity of it all. Where does this silence come from? Why is it suddenly so hard to speak?

And as I am writing this I am thinking about the photograph that I took at the end of the summer. Of the light shining through the tree and the golden glow refracting across the water. And I think about how my work can support survivors even in their silence. That to be trauma informed means that those we serve do not need to speak. Rather we hold space for them as the go through the enormous transition that is birth whether they choose to exist in the shade or come into the light.

So this is my commitment in my work with survivors, your stories are welcome and safe with me, but you do not need to share to receive my support. Even in the survivor consultations that Penny Simkin and Phyllis Klaus trained me to do, what you share is up to you. Stories are powerful, but so is silence and the balance between the two is up to every individual. I will listen to the music behind the words and in the silence between

@pennysimkin #phyllisklaus #wsbg #whensurvivorsgivebirth #birthtrauma #traumainformed #childbirtheducation @leach.justine #silence #musicbehindthewords #resilientbirth #healingbirth