Maren Casada
American Military University
Maren Casada
Maren is a transplant from Southern Pennsylvania to Southern California. She came out to California as a means of escaping from her tumultuous life. Once out here, she became involved in volunteering at the Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center then was later hired as a Victim Advocate for San Bernardino County District Attorney's office. She took on this job as a way of trying to heal wounds inflicted from abuse and sexual assault. Turns out Victim Advocacy was only part of her healing journey and the other part is Active Healing.
SESSION OVERVIEW
Active Healing: A Forgiveness Alternative
My presentation will discuss Active Healing, an alternative to forgiveness. There seems to be so much pressure on victims to forgive and it feels like a linear process, that once a victim decides to forgive, they can no longer be hurt, angry, or bitter about what happened to them. At best, this is unhealthy at worst it allows for continued victimization or revictimization. Active Healing is process that allows for the ebb and flow of feelings. The concept allows victims to be angry and upset for however long that needs to be to get to a place of being ready to heal. Once a victim gets there, active healing requires that they put in the hard work, see a therapist, answer hard questions with honesty and out loud. It also allows for victims to continue to acknowledge their "negative feelings" while giving them the tools to handle them in a way that is productive instead of destructive.