Dr. John A. King didn't recognize his childhood sexual abuse and trafficking until 2008, when fragmented memories suddenly came together. He spent seven years with pieces of the memory surfacing before understanding what happened. He calls himself an overcomer, not a victim.
Yeah. Let's dive in. You've lived a really big life already. And I loved— I want to share your statement that you've shared. I was never a victim. I have always been an overcomer. If I can make it, so can you. So I want to just start with your path when you started on this healing journey. What did that look like for you, for everyone listening?
I was sexually abused in what we would call as trafficked today by the people who raised me. And it wasn't until 2008 that I had recall of that. And that was the first time in my life I realized I'd been abused. Up until that point, it was just my childhood. I didn't have any external benchmarks for it. It was just how I was raised. I thought all people had to engage in oral sex with their caregivers. I thought that was Just the normal way of things. You go to parties, you watch pornography, you're engaged in those sort of activities. So it wasn't until '08 when all these bits and pieces came back and they came together and they played continuously like an old 8mm in my head for about 7 years. And to be honest, sometimes they still do. And then I thought, that was the only time I ever called myself a victim.
