Mike DomitrzPresident, Author, and Speaker on Respect, The Center for Respect, Inc. · Author & Speaker on Respect for Schools, Corporations, & the Military since 1990 (has reached

Through the Eyes of a Survivor

2 May 2025 · 1 min

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In this brief monologue, the speaker emphasizes that rape survivors do not simply "get over" their trauma; they live as survivors and can work toward thriving, though the process is a difficult, ongoing journey. The speaker argues that trauma is not something that disappears, but rather a condition that individuals learn to navigate and grow from. The talk also critiques common misunderstandings about anxiety and trauma, such as the notion that one can simply be told to "just not have" anxiety, highlighting that such advice ignores the lived reality of survivors and fails to acknowledge the complexity of trauma.

You don't get over rape. You live as a survivor. Now, can you thrive as a survivor? Absolutely. Doesn't mean it's easy to do. It means it's a journey. But to say they should get over it means you don't understand how trauma works. Trauma is something that we live and we figure out how to strive and thrive through the trauma. It doesn't mean it's gone forever. It's not how it typically works. Nowadays, do a lot of people have anxiety? If you walk up to somebody and say, hey, just don't have it. How does that work? It does not work, right? Because it's not understanding where they're coming from.