Heal the Healers Profile: Judi McCreary

Judi McCreary is a producer and writer who has penned plots for many primetime dramas, including Law & Order: SVU, a task that takes her into the darkest precincts of what human beings can do.

“I’ve worked in television for fifteen years and specifically around issues of sexual violence for ten. Although I frequently get story ideas or inspiration from the very real abuse cases in the criminal justice system, I always remember that I’m viewing it from a distance. I’m neither the victim nor the first responder. I’m a storyteller, trying to give voice to a never-ending malady. But even though there’s a buffer of distance, I’m still very much affected by the case files I read and the photos I see. Sometimes I find it difficult to get back into the light and I struggle with moments of depression and despair. I’m reluctant to latch onto vicarious trauma as the reason for this because I’m not an individual who deals with the real life horror associated with sexual trauma. I don’t want to diminish what those healers do by claiming in any way that I’m like them.

However, I do live in a very dark place. I have to in order to depict the horrible truth in this type of fiction. I do make efforts to get back into the light, so to speak. I take solace in my family. I find peace by spending time with my daughters. I take pride in my young grandsons, laughing at their antics and thinking of all the things I need to teach them so they can become good and decent men in the future. Survivors need to know they’re not alone. I know firsthand how much you just want to crawl into a cave and lick your wounds alone. Without real support, real fellowship, these symptoms can fester My real hope is that if anyone who’s been hurt and is in the process of cave dwelling will relate to a moment in an episode and realize there are people out there who’ll help them without judgment.”