Traci Powell NP

The TRW Story

I lived alone in silence with the the secrecy of my childhood for over 40 years. I had promised myself I’d never tell anyone. What I didn’t know was the major impact years of child sexual abuse (CSA) would have on my adult life. To the world I was a strong, independent mom and nurse. To myself, I was blackened to the core and full of self-hatred, but I plowed through life, constantly trying to prove my worth.

Suddenly, in my early 40s, I began having massive panic attacks and fell into a deep depression. Before long, I found myself constantly thinking I needed to die and believed it was the only way out of the pain I was feeling, and I didn’t even know why I felt that way. It wasn’t until I finally sought help that I learned the abuse of my childhood was taking me down in middle age.

I’ve met many people like me since. People who lived through CSA struggling in silence. Wondering why they hate themselves or can’t leave the past in the past. Living in constant depression and anxiety, while telling the world they are “fine.” Too afraid to tell their stores, because it might upset someone else or they won’t be believed.

I started TRW to shatter the silence that comes with being a sexual abuse survivor. Not just the silence we keep regarding the abuse itself, but also the silence we keep regarding the effects of the abuse on our lives. It doesn’t all magically go away when we finally say “me too.” That phrase is the key that unlocks the door that opens to a path towards freedom. The path can feel treacherous at times, but you don’t have to travel it alone.

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