Definitions Matter
What Is Abuse?
The deliberate misuse of gifts or privileges and the insulting of individuals. This misuse can happen through emotional, verbal, physical, sexual, or spiritual ways. Scripture stresses that neither God's gifts nor his people are to be abused.
What is Complex Trauma?
Differs from PTSD or one-time trauma events such as a car accident in that it usually begins when the person is in early childhood and is inflicted through a caregiver over and over. People can experience complex trauma on a physical, sexual, mental, behavioral, emotional, or communal level.
What is Shame?
We feel a sense of shame when we have done something dishonorable or when something dishonorable has been done to us. We can feel “trashed,” and want to hide. Shame is a feeling that undermines one's sense of self-worth. It whispers, "I am bad," rather than "I did something bad."
