I work to help people recover from torture, whether in childhood or by a government. I have found, in over 20 years of clinical work, that reconnecting (at the right time) with the reality of the torture is critical. Some of those realities are utterly grotesque: the rape of children, choking, beating, being forced to eat insects, drugged, strapped down, the slice of something cutting or blunt impact at high velocity on to vulnerable skin, forced witnessing of (or participating in) cruelty to others, being locked in the dark and told as the footsteps recede "we will come back, or not" (and when footsteps return, not knowing if they are bringing food or further torment, or both); ripping of fingernails, feeling like exploding from pain.
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