Traumatic memories as reported by people who have experienced unspeakable physical and/or psychological abuse and brutality can have long-lasting negative effects on their personalities, their relationships with others and the way they live their lives in the present.

I remember as a young girl in Rumania, watching my father being beaten with no mercy as Nazi perpetrators yelled, “Filthy Jews”. We were forced onto a train where there was no food, no water, no toilets. I can still hear the sobbing and wailing by our fellow travelers. After several days, we were taken off the trains and forced to walk for what seemed like a very long time to a holding camp. We were covered with layers of mud, freezing, wet, filthy, miserable and terrified. The beatings continued. There was nothing I could do then to help my Papa. No child should bear witness to such a degradation of one’s parent.

These memories and visions are still very vivid to me. However, I have not let them destroy my life. My family and I were spared and did not die in the Holocaust. I don’t know why, and it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that I emerged with a zest for life and the recognition of how lucky I was to have survived.

The truth is that your past does not own you. You own your future, and your past is your toolbox whenever necessary. What’s important is that you gain control of who you are, what you want to become and how you view yourself in the context of your life. These beliefs have stayed with me all of my life. I chose a life as a mental health professional so that I could participate in ‘TIKUN OLAM’ (repairing the world) uplift the vulnerable, inspire and empower them, in their plight against abuse and brutality toward a healthy meaningful life awaiting them.