sharing our experiences

Bo's Story

I am a 29 year old woman and mother of three children. I come from a very dysfunctional family, where I was the youngest of nine children. The abuse I have to talk about is mental, emotional, and physical. It led me to abuse alcohol and drugs. It had a great effect on me mentally throughout my earlier years.

My self esteem was very low, and I had no enthusiasm towards my education because of the physical abuse that was happening to me at that time. I had no desire to further my education, to achieve any kind of goal, because I felt useless and ashamed to be me. I was always told I would never become anything, even though I was an "A" student. I would sit in class thinking about it and feeling the abuse from the night before, and trying to concentrate in class. This abuse carried on throughout my childhood, teenage years, right into my adult years.

Even now this cycle of abuse has followed me. It led me here for a lengthy incarceration at Pine Grove. Through many years of psychological help through counselling and from friends, I have learned to deal with my abuse and break this cycle, starting with myself.

I know now I can speak out about my abuse and how it affected me. I lost all of my self worth, and self esteem, believing I could not make anything of myself. But with the help of the programs offered here, help from positive friends, my psychologist and staff at Pine Grove, I know I can further my education. I have a better attitude. I can be just as good as the next person and be able to speak out about how to break the vicious cycle of abuse that has affected me throughout my life.

If you dare to dream, just reach out and grab it. I did and so can you! Break the cycle of abuse. Speak out and talk about it. Thank you for reading my story.