In Their Own Voices

It is estimated that child abuse and neglect result in direct(e.g., health care, law enforcement, judicial system) and indirect (e.g., specialeducation, lost productivity to society) costs of approximately 103 billion dollars eachyear. Why do some abuse survivors display healthy functioning as adults while othersdisplay a variety of physical and psychological health problems? It was the goal of thisstudy to discover what positive influences, both internal and external, that individualsrelied on to overcome childhood trauma. Five main themes emerged from the data. The fivethemes are as follows: Spirituality/Faith in God, Supportive Others, TherapeuticRelationships, Self-Determination, and Expressive Writing. A description of these themesand selected quotes from participants are described