Hello and welcome to my podcast, The Wellness Project with Des. On today’s podcast episode, I speak with Sara Giita Flores about how she reclaimed her voice after trauma.
I’m Desiree, a Mental Health Therapist that is passionate about helping people improve their mental health and live a healthy and fulfilled life. One way I do this is by interviewing experts in the field of mental health and wellness as well as those that have struggled with their mental health but have gained control over it and now live fulfilling lives. In this episode, we will hear from Sara about how her voice was shamed and silenced after trauma and how she reclaimed it.
Sara was sexually assaulted at the age of five by her friend’s father. She was sexually assaulted again 10 years later. After experiencing the shock of sexual assault, Sara reacted by restricting her voice to stay small, pleasing, and palatable. She completely shut down and narrowed her self expression. She hid herself and focused on pleasing others in order to feel safe.
Eventually, these behaviors turned into perfectionism which she believes was in order to manage people’s perceptions of her so they wouldn’t criticize her or make her feel unsafe.
As a result of the assaults Sara suffered from crying fits, anxiety, depression, disproportionate reactions, and unpleasant sensations like her throat constricting. She also began feeling pain in her wrists. She was a piano major in college and was unable to play the piano anymore.
It took Sara many years to begin to heal. She was in therapy, she did yoga, she meditated, and more. Sara was frustrated with her limited healing but realized that maybe she didn’t need to heal fully to be able to move forward and live her life.
"There was a time when I really, really thought I had to be 100% healed to move forward."
Because she could no longer play the piano, Sara shifted her focus to singing. Through music and singing, Sara began to reclaim her voice and the right to be heard. She even started to write her own songs with beautiful and uplifting messages. After gaining some confidence and reclaiming her voice, Sara began to share her music with the world.
If you have ever felt that your voice was silenced, shamed, humiliated, or ignored then you do not want to miss this powerful conversation. Listen to this episode to hear how Sara reclaimed her voice and gained confidence in her voice after it was silenced and shamed by trauma.
Listen Here:
Mentions:
- EMDR
- Somatic experiencing
Where to find Sara:
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