Denial is recognizable by a survivor saying, "it didn't happen.", "I must be making it up.", "After all how can I be sure anything actually happened?", and "What if I'm wrong?", "It probably didn't happen!" or "It couldn't have happened."

In my experience, some denial even as an adult can be helpful. Denial can help slow the process down. We know denial helps a child to survive. We cannot expect someone to simply abandon their hard earned coping strategies even if they are safe now. Safety is not only an external reality it is an internal one as well. Many survivors do not feel safe and may need some denial to cope with how they feel.