I will answer this question from two different perspectives.
If you had always known about the abuse, then the difficulty can sometimes be related to having grown so used to it, that it's difficult to realize that it has stopped. It has always been so much a part of your identity that it can be hard to know who you are apart from the abuse.
If, on the other hand, you had repressed the memories of the abuse and then subsequently reconnected to the reality of the abuse, then the challenge is to integrate the fact of having been abused into your view of yourself and your childhood.
In either case, it will probably be important to seek out help from both a therapist and other survivors.
You can look through some of my previous blog entries to learn about some different therapeutic approaches that may be helpful.
Hope Makes Healing Possible!
Patricia Sherman, Ph.D., LCSW
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