“I think something bad happened to me.”
These were Chandra Moyer’s words to her husband after she was suddenly hit with frightening flashbacks at the age of 37. In the interview we recorded for my podcast, Chandra gives us an almost cinematic description of the way flashbacks transport a person back in time. They threw her into a frozen state, inundated by sights, sounds, smells, and overwhelming emotions that had been locked inside her memory for decades.
At the time, Chandra wondered, “Is this real?” She felt tortured. She questioned her sanity. She describes feeling hopeless, helpless, and powerless in these moments and the involuntary memories she was confronted with. And yet, as Chandra began to realize over time, the flashbacks were a gift. They had information to give her about the childhood trauma that was affecting her every day, outside of her conscious understanding.
The devastation of trauma can cause us to be fragmented into parts in order to cope. That is, until our memories allow us to “come back in pieces” as Chandra puts it, reintegrating all of those parts into a whole person. Our true and complete selves. She describes it as the little girl waking up inside of her. The memories that resurfaced allowed Chandra to give a voice to that dormant child part of herself, to nurture her and honor the pain she held quietly for so long.
Healing is not for the faint of heart. Repressed childhood trauma, flashbacks, and the cold hard truth are painful and frightening. But as Chandra’s story shows us, pain lives inside and affects us in negative and often destructive ways. That is, until we’re able–and willing–to face it. Even then, the effects of trauma often remain. But as we do the hard work of healing, trauma can shrink down to a far more manageable form. By processing our experiences, we create the opportunity to grow from them. We become deeper, stronger, and more empathetic. We might even help others who are also in pain.
This is how healing works. It requires courage, self-compassion, and a conscious choice to live in the truth. I’m grateful to Chandra for opening up for listeners of the podcast. I have enormous respect for her strength and determination to become whole again, just as I do for every person who faces their pain head-on. It’s a brave choice. And it truly is the only way to heal.
Chandra’s book, based on the experiences she describes is I Met Her Before.
Comment(1)-
Roseanne Sheridan says
September 29, 2023 at 11:09 pmThank you. I knew about one childhood abuser, but like yourself, I had the fragmented memories of a terrified little girl return to me in my thirties. Emotional, mind and body memories screaming in to realisation. I am trying to write my book and tell my healing story. My unbelieving family and throwing up obstacles in aggressive actions. They demand proof and will not accept what psychologists and psychiatrists have said in assessments. For them, not amount of factual evidence would be sufficient. The secondary wounding has been massive and has started again in my life. Did you suffer this in false memory etc. being directed towards you?