I had a vision. A dream really. I saw a program that would bring together women who suffer from Betrayal Trauma and then provide resources to aid in their healing and recovery. Healing that could only happen together, as a united, validated front.
It seemed like a huge dream, overwhelming really, but I felt like it had the potential to be so life changing. Information and connection had been life changing for me.
So, when I heard about Jacy's Togetherness Project Conference, I knew we had to get together. I called her the night before her first conference in October of 2013 and that is when the Togetherness Communities were visualized. Our dreams complimented each other in an amazing way.
My name is Shay, and I am the Communities Director for The Togetherness Project. The primary purpose of these Togetherness Communities is to provide unity and healing to women who suffer from Betrayal Trauma through local, guided chapters. My hope is that we can empower women who suffer from Betrayal Trauma with healing and support.
As part of our Communities, women are provided two things: local, guided chapters with other incredible women who 'get it' and information and resources to help aid in your healing through growth and understanding. Our information is separated into two categories: Messages and Lessons.
Every week we provide a Message - an article or post pertaining to some aspect of Betrayal Trauma. It could be written by a therapist, an addict in recovery or even one of us. Anyone that has information and experience that can be helpful to our healing. On the last week of the month, we will post a Lesson. These lessons are original material, written just for us by some of our favorite therapists trained in sexual addiction. They aren't getting paid to do this - they write these and supply them to us because they love us and they want to help. We are so grateful to all of the therapists who supply information and articles to us. We couldn't do this without them.
Every week, I spend time gathering and sorting through articles. I read and read and read (so if you come across a great one, I am always looking for material) and then, once the articles are selected, I contact the author and get permission to use their material. This has allowed me to correspond with some of the coolest and most knowledgeable people. It is definitely a blessing of my job. A lot of time and effort go into finding, selecting and getting permission for each post, each week. I only want the best for you. You deserve the best.
It always makes me sad when I find some good material that we can't use because I'm not able to get copyright permission, which is why I'm so excited to announce a new addition to our Community Information:
Community Reviews
This is where we will provide a summary of the article (or book or therapy program) with a link to the original information. If you are interested in reviewing information, let me know.
I spend countless hours gathering and organizing information for the Communities because I believe in this. I know what it feels like to feel stuck. Unloved. Not important. Blamed.
Not enough.
These Communities are my way of saying I Am Enough.
You are Enough.
We are all Enough.
My hope is that this will be a place you can come to remember that. To remember that this is not your fault. You are NOT stuck. You are important and so very incredibly loved.
Togetherness Communities is a place where we can come together and Rise Above with love.
Watch for our first Message on Monday. It's a good one.