Showing the Complexities of what Healing Means for CSA Survivors

This is part of our Braving Healing platform, which is a storytelling platform for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Each month we publish a “Braving Together” short film that explores a topic that came up across multiple interviews. This is different from our “Survivor Journey” films which focus on a single individual’s journey. Here we are seeking to help other survivors see and hear a range of experiences on a similar topic.

When we first planned to do a documentary for survivors, we researched and settled on a working title of “Braving Healing.” We wanted to explore how the title sat with survivors, so we worked it into our line of questions. First, we asked people about what it meant to be on a healing journey. Then we asked about what it means to be brave. And then finally, “What do the words ‘braving healing’ bring up for you?” This is what people shared…

There are two things to highlight here. First is how we settled on the name. Not only did we consume a lot of content for survivors, we did extensive research to settle up on a working title. From there, we took it steps further and artfully wove it into our questions. As a result, we received powerful confirmation that this title is deeply meaningful and carries all the weight and meaning that we hoped it would. In that sense, this line of questioning was highly successful.

Second, from the standpoint of producing content, we saw our communities immediately engage. People were deeply grateful for how we included them and the reception was quite positive. Braving Healing is less about driving results in terms of immediate business objectives and more about creating a holistic platform that does good for everyone. 

We are powerful interviewers. The way we create space for people to share on trauma topics is beautiful and evident across all of our projects. Here, we found ourselves with content for a short film that is just people responding to the title. We’re really good at designing our questions, and this was one of our favorite points of validation in a project. To do all of the research and preparation to settle on a working name and then receive such overwhelming validation of the concept was delightful and meaningful. We are very intentional in our work.