5x15 Bristol: An Empathetic Witness:
Here is my talk from last Tuesday, about trauma and the importance of friendship and being seen.
Last Tuesday I did a talk for 5x15 Bristol, on the importance of friendship and having an empathetic witness when you’ve experienced trauma. How the process of being seen, witnessed or listened to, is a crucial part of healing. It was a really emotional evening and I am sharing the talk with you here, but I have had to redact a section of it for confidentiality reasons. I hope you enjoy it.
Here is the blurb that was on the website - and below is the talk. I was told it should be unscripted, which meant I had to memorise it. A few days before I did the talk I texted
to ask if she had any tips, and she said: just make sure you practice loads and try to practice without looking at your slides. This was good advice. When it came to the night, I pretty much remembered everything…And here is the talk:
There will be mention of sexual abuse, rape and suicide.
An Empathetic Witness
When I was 13, a friend of my father told me he loved me and wanted to have sex with me. I would shake when I was with him, and he said it was because I was in love with him. When I went to my father to tell him I was uncomfortable with the attention, he said it would be good for me to have my first sexual experience with a mature man; that he would be kind to me.