Arriving at a Kind of Acceptance In an age of intensive research into emotional trauma, discussion on how to best care for torture victims is becoming a staple topic at mental health conferences worldwide. At a National Alliance for Refugee Mental Health conference in Burbank in late July, panel discussions ranged from helping female torture victims deal with the stigma of rape to using theater workshops to aid victims of the Bosnian conflict. Part of the healing process is being able to identify with who they were before and then find a way to go on living with what they've experienced. Experts say there is usually little in anyone's life to prepare him or her for the deliberate infliction of physical and emotional pain. Common physical torture methods are burning, whipping, rape, suspension upside down, submersion in water to the brink of drowning, and electric shocks to sensitive areas.
Psychological torturers employ threats, humiliation, insults and lies.
Victims are told their children or spouses will be put to death, or in some cases, children are tortured in front of parents. The struggle for that identity will continue for many years. What the torturer desires, fundamentally, is to place his voice inside your head and possess you. Your identity becomes very much embodied in the moment of torture. It makes it very difficult to get rid of.