ABSTRACT
Trauma introduces a significant fracture in narrative identity, often leaving child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors with fragmented memories that are disconnected from a coherent life story. This study explores the ‘connecting moment’: the precise biographical turning point when adults consciously conceptualise their childhood experience as abuse for the first time. Using a qualitative narrative analysis approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with nine adult survivors to examine the structure of this realisation. The findings reveal that this awareness is not a sudden memory recovery but a structured narrative process. The sequence begins with an external catalyst (such as media or somatic triggers) that disrupts previous silence. This is followed by an interpretative struggle characterised by confusion and dissociation, and a subsequent search for validation to anchor the reality of the event. Finally, this process culminates in biographical rewriting, where the survivor resignifies past symptoms and reconstructs their identity. The study concludes that the ‘connecting moment’ acts as a crucial mechanism for hermeneutic repair, transforming ineffable pain into a communicable narrative that facilitates trauma integration.