Exploring the Complexities of Shame

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.

It’s hard to avoid the topic of shame when facing any sort of trauma. However, CSA survivors face this with some particular complexities. One being that there is so much shame that they were harmed…yet, they did nothing wrong. So shame is complex here and so we wanted to normalize the discussions around it. 

This 2-part series has received a lot of powerful feedback. Viewers have shared how this helped them frame their own journeys and they appreciated how much we show a variety of thoughts and experiences on the topic. 

When we crafted the vision for Braving Healing as a storytelling platform, we wanted to be able to share themes. Not only did our questions have themes threaded throughout, it’s important that we support survivors not just in hearing of other’s journeys, but also to give them more perspectives on specific topics. This is part one of a two-part series. Splitting the topic into two films allowed us to really separate how people experience and navigate the shame they felt.