What’s the point in re-opening an old wound?

“My abuse was ages ago, what’s the point in re-opening an old wound now?”

It’s a fair question, and to be honest, there is more than just one answer.

First, you might be right. If you’re not ready to revisit old wounds or you’re genuinely finding that your experiences aren’t affecting your day-to-day life that much anymore, that’s great. Our space might not be for you right now, and that’s completely ok.

But for a lot of women, “ages ago” doesn’t mean “dealt with”.

It means pushed down, or worked around, or “got on with life in spite of it”. And that’s not the same as being free of it.

Sometimes the stuff that happened years ago is still surfacing in different ways. In how you react when someone raises their voice, difficulty with trust, abandoning yourself to keep peace, avoiding relationships… I could go on!

It’s not really about re-opening a wound.

It’s more about realising that it never fully closed… and finally giving it (some of) what it needs to heal properly.

What Comes Next is a space where women can:

• Feel seen and validated

• Work out what their rebuild looks like

• Talk honestly about what’s still coming up for them

• Get support with the gnarly stuff - navigating dating again, trusting yourself, etc

You don’t have to be in crisis to deserve support, and you definitely don’t have to have a “bad enough” story.

The What Comes Next community is open for new members. Have a look at our community peer support here.