From Darkness to Light: My Journey from Survivor to Healer
- May 24
- 2 min read
By Janet Bayramyan,
LCSW, from Road to Wellness Therapy
I’ve gone through and seen so much in my young life. I came into this world a sensitive soul, full of light and joy and heart. But as I’ve come to learn, where there’s light, darkness often follows. And in my early years, I was met with deep darkness—painful emotions, unhealthy patterns, and people whose energy dimmed my own.
I took on the weight of others’ traumas, especially my mother’s, because I didn’t know any different. I wanted to make things better. I gave people the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes that helped me. Other times, it hurt me deeply.
As a child, I experienced trauma and held it secret for years, staying silent until I was 19, and finally told my best friend. That moment became a turning point.
My life at the time was falling apart; I was failing college, I couldn’t get out of bed, I was clinically depressed and drowning in shame. But something in me knew I had to keep going. I started therapy. I devoured every self-help book I could find about what I’d experienced and I started to speak the truth of my story.
The truth didn’t set me free right away and I learned healing wasn’t linear. That’s when I found my therapist—someone who held space for me the way I now hold space for others. I learned about EMDR, IFS, brainspotting, CBT. And slowly, I started coming back to myself. I rebuilt my nervous system, I set boundaries, and I found my voice again.
And I found love. Real love. The kind that starts with intensity and grows into something healthy. My now-husband showed me what partnership looks like. He stood by me as I continued my healing, and that support helped me take the next step: becoming a therapist myself.
Who would’ve thought? That little girl who once cried silently in her room would one day sit across from other survivors and say, “I see you. I’ve been there. Let’s find your way out.”
Becoming a trauma therapist wasn’t just a career choice—it was a calling. My personal pain became my professional mission. Every session I hold is rooted in empathy, lived experience, and a deep belief that healing is possible.
This is only the beginning. I know there are more chapters ahead—more lessons, more growth, more light. I share my story not for sympathy, but because I know there’s someone out there who needs to hear it. Maybe that someone is you.
We’re all born with light. Sometimes we lose it. Sometimes others try to take it from us. But that light? It never really goes away. It’s always waiting for us to come back home to ourselves.
I did. And you can too.
Connect With Janet
Comments