“God did it hurt! It was just like childbirth. It was all the pain from the past coming to the now. That pain, I felt as a child was buried within me all these years. I screamed, ‘Get out! to my grandpa and uncle that had molested me. I did this as Michael touched specific muscles in my legs that stored the horror of that betrayal. As I breathed, again groaning like a wounded animal, a part of me observed that it was as though I was giving birth, and Michael was the midwife. He was coaching me to stay present. Saying this like, ‘Good job or ‘You’re doing great, but somehow he knew exactly when the process was complete, and then he said, ‘There! She’s back. He was referring to the girl I had left behind. The one I had disassociated from when my sexual abuse had occurred, but now he helped me to re-integrate her back into my body and soul. At this time, my body began to flop up and down on its own as Michael stroked my hair and cradled my head. I’m crying even as I write this because I never had a man treat me with such tender care. I realize now that it was the former physical pain that exiled the little girl that I once was, that felt helpless and hopeless and afraid to scream. In the end, Michael reminded me that it is now my responsibility to mother the little girl within me and that I had the tools to do so.”

–Anonymous, FL