Hi Sophie,

I can hear that you’ve had some big shifts in your thinking recently and are really taking action to change what’s going on in your life. I really appreciate that you shared these with us and I hope you found some strength in reaching out here as you solidified those decisions in your mind. I really want to encourage you to reach out to the resources you have in your local area — shelters, support workers, child protection (if you feel your younger brother needs some help), and 911 if things reach an emergency level in any way. We want to ensure that you can get any immediate help that you need and with us being so far away and only monitoring our forum at certain times each day we can’t offer assistance in crisis situations.

It sounds like you really care very deeply for your whole family Sophie and that you truly want to take steps to keep those you love safe. I’d imagine it would be very difficult to feel as though you have to choose between keeping your mom, brother, and self safe and keeping your father in your life. We are here to support you as you take that major step of filing a complaint against your father and with any feelings that arise for you as you do so.

I’m hearing that you’ve returned to self-harm and that it was a huge decision that you struggled with for some time. I appreciate how hard you fought to resist the urge and I really want to check it with you to see if you feel you can to this safely without endangering your life… are you able to tend to your wounds to ensure they are cleaned and bandaged? I really hope that you will reach out for help if you find your harm is crossing over into life-threatening territory or if you are unsure of how to care for your wounds.

I’m imagining from your post that you’ve likely already left home. I hope you’ve found safety wherever you’ve gone. I can hear that you’re so desperate to find a place of safety and I truly hope you’re on the path to finding what you need. We are here to support you Sophie.

Youthspace