ROMECCA'S JOURNEY OF HEALING

Romecca Sawers has had a life full of abuse and trauma. But rather than let it continue to rule her life, Romecca is working on herself and with others to create a journey of healing.

because I’m admitting I need to do that. Most of the time I carry on and it’s all good but that leads to a volcano that’s going to erupt and that’s not going to help anybody. I believe there’s strength in pausing and taking a breath, so as long as I’m breathing, I’m a strong woman.”

As a wife and mum of two, Romecca has no secrets from her husband or children, they know absolutely everything that she has experienced and endured. She labels her husband as her biggest supporter since the day we met.

“He is such a strong man and nothing fazes him,” she says. “But my kids also know everything. It was so important to share with them where their mother came from. As I’m building empathy in them, I’m helping them understand what others go through. In a way I trauma informed them. By telling them, I can’t hide behind it.

“I know that by being aware they’re going to watch me, but it is what it is. I knew that was a strategy I needed to protect myself and to stop the cycle from repeating. Addictive traits don’t just start themselves, they pass on and become generational trauma.”

Romecca has achieved quite a lot in a short space of time. She became certified as a life and wellness coach in February 2017, completed a graduate certificate in developmental trauma in June 2021, started her very own podcast called In Healing with Romecca Sawers in January this year, will be celebrating 13 years of sobriety this October, is a published author and hosts trauma informed workshops and sound sessions at no cost for others in the community.

Her first book is her story titled Because I was abused which was published in May 2019. It’s available through Amazon and also at the Caboolture Library.

“Even though I’ve experienced all sorts of trauma, child sexual abuse was the biggest thing and I’m not afraid to talk about it,” Romecca says. “I wrote it from the perspective of as it happened as I was aging, which wasn’t easy going back into that headspace, but I felt it was necessary.

“Even though I have found ways to express myself and cope with things, it still is an everyday fight for me, every day isn’t fantastic or perfect.

“I take it one day at a time. Up to this point, I am healed, what’s to come I don’t know. If something happens then I will find a way to get through it….we are eternally in healing.”

So what’s next for this warrior of a woman? She’s currently working on her second book called Beyond Control which will be a guide for survivors. Then there’s also another book called PIKA – The Fairy who found her sparkle, a children’s book which is awaiting illustration completion and will be used as a way to inform, educate and support children, families, carers and those in support roles. If her plate wasn’t already close to full, Romecca will be hosting an upcoming Healing and Wellness Expo for people who have experienced childhood trauma on April 29.

Given the road she has travelled and everything she has been through, it ponders one last question – we all know what if doesn’t change anything, but have you ever wondered what if my life took a different path?

“Most definitely yessssss!” Romecca says. “What if is a big one. You’re kind of like what if that didn’t happen and I would be so smart. Because of the trauma, my brain has been affected so I have to learn when I shut down to bring myself back into the now. I had to teach myself to come back, to process and to remember the here and now to train my brain.

“But if I hadn’t experienced all that, what would my life be like? I wouldn’t be where I am now. I wouldn’t be here in Australia. I wouldn’t have my husband or my kids.

“This will probably sound strange to a lot of people, but I’m so grateful for what I went through. I’m grateful to be the woman I am today, to have the passion I do today, the empathy, to have the don’t mess with me attitude because I’ve already been messed with, so I know I can use my strengths to my advantage.”