This presentation will put forward my Lived Experience of using creative writing to help explore the narrative around surviving childhood trauma and subsequent Dissociative Identity Disorder. Stream of conscious poetry and art have been imperative to me throughout my survival of child abuse. I will speak to the concept of counternarrative – that is a tool that originates in critical race theory that aims to amplify the voices of the minority against oppressive dominate narratives. Childhood trauma survivors are often silenced when they share their experiences, their voices too regularly dismissed. This can repeat the damaging silencing that occurred during childhood abuse and is ultimately retraumatising. Through sharing poetry and personal reflections, I hope that people will feel more confident in seeing and using storytelling and creativity as powerful knowledge. It is my aim that this will be a space to explore utilising creative writing to empower. I hope that by sharing my own writing and art processes it may invite people to feel empowered to use creativity to process their own experiences. Creativity can be a powerful reflective practice, and allow us to resist power imbalances. This is true both for workers within the system and consumers. Creativity can be a way to regain power over distressing experiences, and to speak truths that were previously dismissed, or caused punishment. Creativity is available to every person – everyone is a creative. No academic experience is required in sharing our collective humanity through the arts. It is for everyone. Stories are powerful change agents, both internally and collectively and can be explored both through the written word and other creative arts pursuits. This presentation will also speak to the process of creating a Lived Experience creative zine aiming to honour expressions that are often oppressed.