Art Therapist Monica

Sexual assault does not end when the violence stops. For many survivors, that is when the real suffering begins. Long after the assault, people often ask, “Why can’t I just move on?” The answer is simple and painful: because trauma changes you. It changes how your brain works, how your body responds to the world, and how safe you feel inside yourself. What survivors experience afterward is not weakness — it is the nervous system doing everything it can to survive something ov

My birthday was coming up again in May. The birthday in my childhood were a fun thing which I celebrated with my parents and my two siblings. As I grew up it became about friends and nightclubs, fine dining with drinks. In my forties, it became quieter the birthday just another day where most people forgot to wish me and others wished me via a WhatsApp message and I was completely fine with it. The birthday month became a time of grief when my mother died five years ago. My

A year of treatment with my gynaecologist regarding spotting between periods and the decision laid bare hysterectomy is needed. The date is finalized. The timing was less than perfect: a family wedding loaded with contrasts, the operation after two days and then my dead mother’s birthday and wedding anniversary squeezed in. My nerves had been fraught with anxiety and immense angst for a week, but surprisingly on the night before and day of operation I was calm. As I was wh

Breathe love, release anger Breathe forgiveness, release resentment Breathe joy, release sadness Breathe compassion, release arrogance Breathe universal connection, release separateness