If you cannot forgive, how do you forget?

In short, I say you don’t.

In my memoir, Room in the Heart, A childhood Undone, A Pact to Love Fulfilled, I discuss this very sensitive and controversial issue for survivors of all types of abuse. From my experience as both a sexual assault nurse and also a victim/survivor of emotional/physical abuse, I firmly believe we have no moral obligation to forgive those who have abused us. The moment they chose to harm us, our accountability for respecting their needs was declared null and void. Void…just like the part of us that used to feel safe from harm.  Harm…what they promised us would never happen if we kept SAFE this secret that WE never agreed to keep in the first place.