Julio Rodriguez: New Concepts for Understanding

The Bristlecone Project is an awareness campaign of 1in6.org. Photographs and text by David Lisak, Ph.D.

Despite the fact that he was abused by a close family member, an uncle, and despite the fact that twice during the many years of his abuse other family members discovered the abuse but did not understand its impact on him, Julio never lost the certainty of his extended family’s love. He was raised in an unwavering matrix of love, and he never lost those connections, either externally or internally. And because of that, Julio has been able to forgive his uncle. Forgive in the sense of unburdening himself of his anger, unchaining himself from the wild unfairness of the trauma that so marred his childhood.

He has worked for and found quiet inside, through meditation. And he has found love too, in his 13 year relationship with his partner. And in transforming the violence that was inflicted upon him, he has found a mission. In his professional social work training, Julio found new language and new concepts to understand his own history. He focused his master’s thesis on male survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and he is looking ahead to helping other men who too must struggle with the trauma of sexual violence.

Originally posted on 1in6.org

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