Initiated Survivor

In this bittersweet farewell episode of Initiated Survivor, I reflect on the incredible journey this podcast has been and my gratitude for this amazing chapter in my life. Though the podcast is ending, my commitment to working with survivors continues through therapy, workshops, and professional trainings. I want to give a special thanks to all the courageous survivors and supporters who've contributed. As I move forward, my website drkelseyharper.com remains a resource for ongoing support and connection. Thank you for being part of this journey. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Intro 00:09 — Finale of Initiated Survivor 00:49 — The Journey of Initiated Survivor 01:36 — Growth and Authenticity 03:35 — Building Community 04:34 — Achievements and Recognition 05:39 — Future Plans and Gratitude 06:14 — Stay in Touch! Topics/Triggers: · Survivors · Trauma Recovery · Community · Growth · Grief · Therapy · Healing ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

I have a wonderful conversation with Michelle Hirschman of Hirschman Clinical Services on the topic of vicarious trauma among helping professionals. Michelle shares her extensive experience working with a team of mobile coaches who assist clients with chronic mental health issues, eating disorders, and substance abuse. We discuss the importance of recognizing signs of burnout and the unique supports Michelle's organization offers to therapists and the recovery treatment community. Additionally, Michelle introduces her initiative to integrate holistic healing modalities for both clients and professionals. We also emphasize the significance of maintaining self-care and resilience in the face of professional challenges. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Intro 00:49 — About Hirschman Clinical Services 02:46 — Challenges in the Field: Vicarious Trauma and Burnout 09:26 — Holistic Healing Approaches 29:38 — Professional Support and Community 32:08 — Conclusion and Final Thoughts ★ Connect with Michelle Hirschman ★ · Visit the Hirschman Clinical Services Website · Follow @hirschmanclinicalservices on Instagram Topics/Triggers: · Vicarious Trauma · Suicide · EMDR · Burnout · Holistic Healing · Addiction · Eating Disorders ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

This episode, I welcome back Meghan Goode, a fellow therapist and survivor, to discuss the intricate overlap between professional lives and personal traumas as therapists. We explore the concept of the 'wounded healer' and emphasize the importance of continuous self-care and therapy for professionals exposed to trauma. Meghan shares her journey, highlighting how her own traumatic experiences fueled her career shift, and her approach to EMDR and DBT therapy. We also discuss the challenges of vicarious trauma, the power of genuine therapist-client connections, and the impactful ripple effects of survivor stories. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Intro 03:53 — The Wounded Healer 06:28 — Types of Therapy & Personal Healing 15:08 — The Power of Self-Disclosure 18:34 — Impact of Public Figures and Advocacy 27:10 — Honoring Survivors and Continuing the Mission 29:48 — Building Community for Survivors ★ Connect with Meghan Goode ★ · Visit Meghan's Website here · Listen to Initiated Survivor: Survivor to Warrior with Meghan Goode Topics/Triggers: · Rape · DBT · Trauma · Vicarious Trauma · EMDR · Mindfulness · PTSD · Sexual Abuse · Sexual Assault · Suicide · Bullying ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode, I have Kelly Johnson, a writer, public speaker, and community engagement professional back on the podcast to discuss the concept of the 'palatable victim' within sexual violence narratives. We talk about societal and cultural expectations that define a 'palatable' victim, contrasting these with the reality faced by many survivors. We also highlight the struggles survivors face in being believed and heard, emphasizing the need to support all survivors regardless of these biases. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Intro 00:24 — Defining the Palatable Victim 02:09 — Public Perception and Reporting 05:39 — Navigating the Justice System 08:55 — Societal Reactions and Victim Blaming 11:50 — Impact of Public Allegations 18:46 — Survivor Reactions and Misconceptions 23:59 — Privilege and Survivorship 30:48 — The Importance of Advocacy ★ Connect with Kelly Johnson ★ · Listen to Initiated Survivor: The far-reaching effects of trauma with Kelly Johnson · Learn About Writers for Hope created by Kelly Johnson · Follow @writersforhope on Instagram Topics/Triggers: · Rape · Sexual Violence · Palatable Victim · Strangulation · Violence · Victim Blaming ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

This episode, I welcome back Justine Cross, a BDSM consultant and dominatrix, and Rena Martine, an intimacy coach and former deputy district attorney to the podcast. Justine and Rena share their expertise in creating safe, shame-free spaces for trauma survivors to explore their sexuality. We explore the concepts of trauma-informed sexual practices, importance of consent, and taking gradual steps in intimate encounters post-trauma. We also discuss frequently asked listener questions, such as how to navigate sexual experiences post-trauma, and emphasize gradual exposure, communication, and understanding one's own desires as pathways to healing and enjoyable intimate experiences. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Intro 01:14 — Meet Justine Cross & Rena Martine 02:24 — Understanding Trauma-Informed Sexuality 03:29 — Practical Steps for Trauma-Informed Practices 04:57 — Creating Safe Spaces for Exploration 06:44 — The Importance of Consent and Communication 07:54 — Finding Community and Support 10:14 — Taking the First Steps Towards Healing 16:03 — AD: Trauma Resourcing Skills Workshop & Trauma Informed Intimacy Skills Workshop 18:23 — Addressing Common Concerns and Questions 25:56 — The Value of Sexual Exploration and Play 38:45 — Keep up with Rena and Justine! ★ Connect with Justine Cross ★ · Connect with Justine Here · Learn More About Dungeon East · Follow Justine on IG @thejustinecross · Watch Justine's Work on YouTube · Listen to Initiated Survivor: Mistress Justine Cross on Consent, Kink Communities, and BDSM ★ Connect with Rena Martine ★ · Connect with Rena Here · The Sex You Want by Rena Martine · Follow Rena on IG @rena.martine · The Sex Drive Reset: Free Audio Guide Topics/Triggers: · Intimacy · Trauma-informed Intimacy · Sex Crimes · Intimacy Coaching · Trauma Survivors · Sex Work · Trauma Therapy · BDSM · Sexual Abuse · Rape · Spousal Rape ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode, I talk about vicarious trauma and its similarities to burnout. I will cover what vicarious trauma is, symptoms, and real-life examples of vicarious trauma in helping professionals. I'll also share the importance of recognizing and addressing vicarious trauma to prevent the development of chronic PTSD. I'll discuss systemic factors contributing to vicarious trauma and the impact on personal and professional lives. You can look forward to future episodes, where I will share strategies for alleviating vicarious trauma and fostering community support. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! 00:00 — Intro 00:12 — Connecting with Survivor-Focused Content 01:16 — Understanding Vicarious Trauma 06:11 — Symptoms of Vicarious Trauma 08:40 — Impact on Personal and Professional Life 10:32 — Managing Vicarious Trauma 16:24 — AD: Fall Workshops 28:10 — Challenges in the Helping Profession 30:59 — Survivor Therapists and Vicarious Trauma 33:59 — Conclusion and Future Content Topics/Triggers: · Vicarious Trauma · Burnout · Sexual Abuse · Trauma Focused CBT · PTSD · Child Sexual Abuse · Trauma Experience · Trauma Memory · Helplessness and Hopelessness · Addictions · Sexual Assault · Rape · Stalking ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode, we're shifting from gender-based violence to the unique challenges faced by all healthcare professionals — from psychologists and therapists to emergency responders. Addressing the high risk of burnout and compassion fatigue, I'm explaining how these professionals are uniquely vulnerable due to their roles. Burnout is characterized by chronic, unresolved stress leading to significant mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion, while compassion fatigue stems from witnessing the suffering of others. Moreover, BURNOUT IS NOT OUR FAULT. It is the result of systemic exploitation from late-stage capitalism and resource inequities. So how do we conquer it when it is not an individual problem? I'll let you know my professional insights on interventions and community support, and the signs you need to look out for. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! 00:00 — Understanding Burnout in Healthcare Professionals 04:26 — The Reality of Burnout 05:05 — Symptoms and Impact of Burnout 08:13 — Causes and Risk Factors for Burnout 12:40 — Personal Experiences with Burnout 20:21 — Addressing Burnout and Moving Forward Topics/Triggers: · Burnout · Trauma · Stress · Exhaustion · Mental Health · Depression · Compassion Fatigue · Chronic Pain · Moral Injury · Isolation · Helplessness · Disassociation · Empathy · Anxiety · Anger · Capitalism · Survival Mode · Work Culture · Human Rights & Social Injustices · Neurodivergence ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Welcome back to Part Three of Ask a Psychologist Anything! In this episode, I address the frequently asked question: 'How do I get my loved one to go to therapy?' While many people wish for their loved ones to go to therapy, the key takeaway is that you can't force anyone to go. I'll talk about how therapy is not the only path to healing, alternative support methods, the importance of boundaries, how to help loved ones understand their options without pressuring them, and how respecting a person's dignity and autonomy is essential. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Intro 00:32 — Understanding the Desire for Therapy 02:16 — The Reality of Therapy Accessibility 04:10 — Respecting Autonomy and Dignity 05:51 — Exploring Alternatives to Therapy 08:00 — Sharing Personal Experiences 11:22 — Avoiding Pressure and Blame 14:25 — Addressing Personal Needs and Boundaries 17:57 — Addressing Concerns & Respecting Decisions Topics/Triggers: · Therapy · Trauma Recovery · Relationships · Community · Family Relationships · Victim Blaming · Boundaries · Self Harm Behavior · Depression · Suicide ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode, I talk about the value and role of emotional support animals (ESAs) in mental health and trauma recovery. I'll cover what ESAs are, the differences between ESAs and service animals, and the benefits of having an ESA, such as improved mental health, increased social interaction, and better routine management. I'll also answer some common questions, like how to get an ESA, the types of animals that make good ESAs, and the legal rights of ESA owners. From my own experience, my emotional support animals have been a crucial part of my recovery and I am very thankful for them! Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Intro 00:48 — Understanding Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) 01:40 — Differences Between ESAs and Service Animals 02:39— Benefits of Emotional Support Animals 05:32— Legal Rights and Accessibility of ESAs 10:59 — How to Get an ESA 12:02 — Choosing the Right ESA for You 16:26 — Where You Can Take Your ESA 19:21 — Personal Experiences with ESAs Topics/Triggers: · Mental Health · Emotional Support Animals · Depression · Anxiety · Isolation · Service Animals · Emotional Regulation · Trauma ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

On this episode of Initiated Survivor, my friend and empowerment coach, April Arielli, shares her inspiring story of overcoming trauma and finding her calling as a life, relationship, and career coach. From surviving a harrowing experience to finding healing through yoga and skydiving, April's journey is a testament to resilience and reclaiming one's power. April shares how she empowers others to navigate challenging life transitions and achieve their dreams, and the impact of sharing survivor stories to create a stronger community. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Intro 00:52 — April's Journey: From Actress to Empowerment Coach 01:28 — The Power of Sharing and Connecting Survivor Stories 08:59 — The Struggle with Reporting and Internalized Shame 15:37 — Recovery and Reclaiming Self-Worth After Trauma 17:39 — Discovering Kundalini Yoga: A Journey to Emotional Healing 19:22 — Skydiving: A Leap Towards Healing and Confidence 26:45 — Navigating New Relationships and Trust After Trauma 30:34 — Embracing Life Coaching: A New Chapter of Empowerment 35:34 — The Impact of Sharing and Healing Topics/Triggers: · Sexual Assault · Rape · Aggressive Behavior · Violence · Trauma Recovery · Reclaiming Your Power · Healing · Creating a Community ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ★ Connect with April Arielli ★ Website: aprilarielli.com IG: @aprilarielli Take The First Step: https://bit.ly/AprilArielli **50% off 2 or 3 month life coaching package for Initiated Survivor Subscribers - Take the First Step and mention Initiated Survivor. *Limited Time Offer If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

This episode, I have special guest Brialynn Massie on the podcast to discuss the creation of their upcoming film 'I Need You To Stay'. The film aims to tackle the Hollywood stigma and misconceptions surrounding BPD through the story of its protagonist, Kira, who is in remission from BPD. We touch on themes such as the systemic issues of misogyny and white supremacy in the diagnosis and treatment of BPD, the pervasive stigma in media and healthcare, and the cycle of victimization. Additionally, we'll talk about the importance of creating a community and safe spaces for individuals with BPD, the impact of therapy, and the potential for legislative changes to improve access to mental health care. Brialynn also highlights the efforts to maintain a trauma-informed culture on set and the partnership with Hire Survivors Hollywood to combat predatory behavior. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! 00:00 — Unveiling the Stigma of Borderline Personality Disorder 00:39 — Brialynn's Journey: From Diagnosis to Filmmaker 00:57 — Combating Hollywood's Stigma: The Making of I Need You To Stay  01:31 — The Impact of Media and Misogyny on Mental Health Stigma 06:30 — Bridging the Gap: The Mission Behind the Movie 16:51 — The Power of Representation: Changing Narratives and Building Communities 30:13 — The Fight for Accessible Mental Health Care and Legislative Change 31:32 — Exploring the Complexities of Borderline Personality Disorder 32:44 — The Impact of Early Diagnosis and Access to Healthcare 35:01 — Navigating Relationships and Self-Validation with BPD 39:13 — The Dangers of Fetishization and Exploitation 50:30 — Healing, Hope, and Building Community Topics/Triggers: · Borderline Personality Disorder · Suicide/Suicidal Ideations · Addiction · Abuse · Medical/Workplace Abuse · Gaslighting · Victim Blaming · Child Abuse · CPTSD · Hire Survivors Hollywood · Community · Trauma · Self-Validation ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ★ Connect with Brialynn Massie ★ Follow @ineedyoutostaymovie on Instagram Explore I Need You to Stay Website Email: admin@ineedyoutostay.com If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode of Initiated Survivor, I'll discuss the vital role of social support and community in the process of recovering from trauma. I will talk about the innate human need for connection, and how isolation exacerbates feelings of insecurity and depression, while the sense of belonging fosters healing and a sense of safety. I will share practical ways those in recovery can find and integrate into communities, especially after experiences of trauma, and navigate the challenges of connecting authentically with others. I will also share a few of my personal experiences with finding community and connection, the importance of self-validation, and the continuous, life-long journey of finding belonging and support in community. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Intro 00:27 — The Power of Social Support in Mental Health Recovery 01:08 — Understanding Our Social Nature and Its Impact on Recovery 03:23 — Creative Expression and Community 07:54 — Navigating Social Connections as Adults: Challenges and Strategies 13:11 — Exploring Personal Values and Building Community Connections 14:37 — GROUP THERAPY AD:  https://www.drkelseyharper.com/dbt-skills-group-for-lgbtq 24:38 — Embracing Vulnerability and Growth in Community Engagement 31:05 — Finding Peace and Purpose Through Community Topics/Triggers: · Abusive Realtionships · Sexual Assault · Community · Creative Expression · Self-Worth · Self-Validation · Trauma Recovery ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode, I talk about the power of group therapy and community for those recovering from traumatic experiences. I'll discuss the emotional isolation people often experience in the aftermath of traumatic events, and how this can be exacerbated by societal factors. I'll share some personal experiences on how participating in group activities, such as restorative yoga classes and virtual workshops served as a healing mechanism and a stepping stone towards building relationships and community. Additionally, I will talk about the benefits of group therapy in cultivating listening, speaking, healing, and social skills while maintaining a safe, validating space for participants. I am also excited to be offering two new groups starting in April which include: DBT Skills Group for LGBTQ+ and a Trauma Recovery Skills Group! Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! 00:00 — Intro 00:59 — The Struggles of Isolation and Anxiety 03:12 — The Comfort of Home and the Challenge of Leaving 04:01 — Overcoming Agoraphobia and Building Connections 05:51 — The Power of Solitude and Self-Care 07:04 — The Role of Community Activities in Recovery 10:09 — The Impact of the Pandemic and Virtual Groups 12:37 — Group Therapy Ad: https://www.drkelseyharper.com/dbt-skills-group-for-lgbtq 17:50 — The Benefits of Group Therapy 21:39 — Personal Experiences with Group Therapy 22:12 — Upcoming Group Therapy Opportunities 23:55 — The Healing Power of Groups Topics/Triggers: · Rape Culture · Victim Blaming · Agoraphobia · Anxiety · Trauma · Trauma Recovery · Virtual Groups and Community · CPTSD · Group Therapy ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode, we delve deep into Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and complex trauma. We discuss the stigma associated with these conditions, their links to past trauma, their effects on personality and social behavior, and how they are often misunderstood. I'll talk about the traits and symptoms of BPD, the relationship between BPD and complex trauma, and the intersections of these with PTSD. I'll also cover the importance of trauma-informed care and discuss effective treatments like Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and other trauma interventions. 00:00 — Introduction to Borderline Personality Disorder 01:50 — Understanding the Nature of Borderline Personality Disorder 03:35 — Traits and Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder 11:45 — The Connection Between BPD and Trauma 13:18 — AD: Group Therapy: https://www.drkelseyharper.com/dbt-skills-group-for-lgbtq 14:49 — Understanding Complex PTSD and its Relation to BPD 21:07 — Treatment Options for BPD and Complex Trauma 23:41 — Conclusion and Future Discussions Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! Topics/Triggers: · Dialectical Behavior Therapy by Dr. Marsha Linehan · Suicide and Suicidal Ideation · PTSD · Trauma · Emotional Overload and Overstimulation · Intrusive Memories ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

As survivors, we understand the experience of being wronged and the desire to make a positive impact in the world. With so much happening at this moment, it can feel overwhelming. However, one effective tool we have in our fight for a better future is activism. By standing up for our values within our local community, we can create meaningful change. In this episode of 'Initiated Survivor', we explore the role of activism in the healing process for trauma survivors. We discuss how engaging in collective actions that align with our personal values can foster a sense of community and serve as a powerful tool for change and recovery. I also provide various strategies for incorporating activism into our recovery journey, such as connecting with long-term goals, emphasizing community-building, and supporting local organizations that make a tangible impact on our daily lives. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! 00:00 — Introduction 01:37 — The Power of Activism 03:20 — Activism and Emotional Expression 05:00 — AD: Individual Therapy: https://www.drkelseyharper.com/trauma-therapy 05:42 — Mindfulness in Activism 08:42 — Sensory Needs in Activism 09:40 — Titration and Exposure in Activism 11:05 — Emotional Support, Expressive Activities, Self Care 16:20 — AD: Group Therapy: https://www.drkelseyharper.com/dbt-skills-group-for-lgbtq 17:40 — Engaging in Pleasant Activities & Personal Values 19:15 — Different Ways to Engage in Activism 22:23 — Local Organizations 24:50 — Providing Direct Services in Activism 26:01 — Utilizing Personal Skills in Activism 27:15 — Conclusion: The Power of Activism in Healing Trauma Topics/Triggers: · Titrating · Self-care · Community Engagement · Trauma Processing · Self-soothing Habits · Physiological Regulations · Mindfulness · The Power of Activism · Vicarious Trauma · Engaging in Expressive & Pleasant Activities · Our Values & Goals · Abortion Bans · Success Stories Prison Feminism · Supporting NonProfit Organizations · Grassroots Activism · Ask a Psychologist Anything ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Diet culture permeates every facet of our lives. We have to eat food to live, but when our relationship to food becomes complicated, we can quickly lose control and fall into disordered eating habits due to the societal pressures all around us. In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing the incredible Devon Cole, RD, MS, a registered dietitian specializing in intuitive eating and trauma recovery. We delved into the world of intuitive eating and explored how it goes beyond just fueling our bodies. Devon shared valuable insights on how intuitive eating allows us to embrace pleasure, connection, and celebration when it comes to food. We discussed the harmful effects of diet culture and the mental gymnastics it imposes on us when trying to fit into unattainable beauty standards. Throughout the episode, Devon shared her expertise and provided practical advice for survivors of trauma and anyone seeking a healthier relationship with food. Join My Trauma Skills Workshop — 12 Weeks of one-on-one Small Group Trauma Skills Therapy Starting in April 2024! Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! Topics/Triggers: · Diet Culture · Disordered Eating · Chronic Dieting · Intuitive Eating · Health at Every Size · When to See a Dietitian · Binge Eating · Calorie Restriction · Common Questions & Concerns with Dieting · Food & The Need for Control · The Binge-Restrict Cycle · Unattainable Beauty Standards · Maintaining Our Agency · Coming Home to Your Body · Food as Culture Rather than Just Sustenance · Maintenance Phase Podcast · Health & Healthy Eating · Weight · How Parents Can Help Their Children with Weight · Why Our Relationship to Our Bodies Affects Our Relationship with Food Connect with Devon Cole: · Website: https://devoncolerd.com/ · Instagram @devoncolerd https://www.instagram.com/devoncolerd/ · Email: devoncolerd@gmail.com ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

We are back for another round of Ask a Psychologist Anything. In this episode, I dive into various topics related to trauma, vulnerability management, therapist-client relations, and the balance between triggers and optimism. We discuss the balance between pushing for change and taking care of ourselves, the concept of the window of tolerance, and how it affects our emotional well-being. Join me as I provide insights, practical advice, and compassionate guidance on navigating trauma recovery and fostering mental well-being. Whether you're a survivor, a mental health professional, or simply interested in these topics, this podcast aims to create a supportive and informative space for everyone. Join My Trauma Skills Workshop — 12 Weeks of one-on-one Small Group Trauma Skills Therapy Starting in April 2024! Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! Topics/Triggers: · Trauma Related Grief · EMDR · How to Cope · Politics · Following Through on Goals · Neurodivergence · Hypervigilance & Apathy · Activism & Triggers · Politics and Therapy · The Client-Therapist Relationship · Trauma · Mental Health and Community · The Meaning of Rest · Vulnerability Management · Support Systems · Initiated Survivor: Poet Kate Burns on The Power of Creativity for Healing: ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

We've got something special for you on Initiated Survivor for the Holiday Season! Join us as we revisit a past episode called "Holiday Survival Skills." I know that the holidays can be a bit overwhelming, especially with all the family dynamics, financial pressures, and cultural stressors. But we've got some practical strategies to help you handle it all. We'll show you how to take care of yourself while also actively participating in positive change. It's all about finding those moments of connection, celebrating your values, and staying grounded during tough times. We're here to support you as you create meaningful memories and navigate the end of the year with resilience and joy. Enjoy this replay, and happy holidays! Join My Trauma Skills Workshop — 12 Weeks of one-on-one Small Group Trauma Skills Therapy Starting in April 2024! Topics/Triggers: • Seasonal Energy Shifts • Dark Moon Phase of the Year • Heightened Sensitivities around Triggers During the Holidays • Radical Acceptance & Mindfulness • Living in the Moment Without Judgement. • How to Practice Mindfulness Daily • Giving Yourself Permission to Remove Yourself from Toxic Situations • The Value of Setting & Enforcing Boundaries in Relationships • Treating Our Time & Energy as Finite Resources • Giving Yourself the Gift of Prioritizing Your Own Needs • Self-Care During the Holiday Season • Private Distractions During Events • Finding Connection • Tara Brach • Self-Soothing (Listen to Initiated Survivor Bonus Ep "Skill Spotlight - Self-Soothing" for more information!) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Kate Burns, a survivor and poet. We delved deep into her healing journey and the importance of community support. Kate shared her experiences of initially struggling to trust men and the significance of allowing survivors to fully own their feelings without judgment. She also discussed the creation of her emotional emergency care kit and the power of reaching out to trusted friends for support. We explored the transformative impact of writing letters to oneself and receiving affirmations from others. Kate's resilience and fierce determination to create a safe space for survivors were truly inspiring, and she leaves us all with a touch of her wisdom by closing out the interview with a reading of one of her poems in her book, "All My Favorite Men Are Dead." Listen in as we explore healing, community, and finding strength in vulnerability. → Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! 00:00 — Intro 00:18 — Kate's Survivor Story 03:19 — Creativity & Healing 10:17 — Making Poetry Active 11:54 — Kate's Recovery 16:10 — How to Get Started in Poetry 22:04 — Effective Healing Strategies 28:14 — Emergency Emotional Care Kit 33:42 — Community & Trust 38:53 — A Reading of Kate's Poem "Me Too" Topics/Triggers: • Using a Pseudonym • Sexual Assault from a Male Friend • Finding Community • Asking for Help • Suicide • Healing through Creativity • Emotional Self-Care • Attachment Wounds • Trust • Feeling Safe in Your Body • The Power of Poetry Connect with Kate: — Website: https://www.kateburnspoet.com/ — Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kateburnspoet/?hl=en — Links: https://linktr.ee/kbpoetry ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Dedeker Winston was last on the podcast to discuss her somatic practitioner training and how somatic experience can help you on your recovery journey. Today, she shares her story of surviving domestic violence in one of her romantic partnerships. Dedeker talks about what it was like leaving an abusive relationship, the challenges and rewards of practicing non-monogamy, and the importance of community support in healing from trauma. We discuss the harmful stereotypes surrounding victims and perpetrators of abuse and the need for a more nuanced understanding of these dynamics. Dedeker also shares her perspective on the power of embodied experiences of safety and security in healing from trauma. Join us for this powerful conversation on healing, community, and the importance of breaking out of societal norms to find new ways of relating and connecting with others. Connect with Dedeker: • Website: https://www.dedekerwinston.com/ • Multiamory Podcast: https://www.multiamory.com/podcast-summary Topics/Triggers: • Consensual Non-monogamy • Domestic Abuse • Intimate Partner Violence • The Feeling of Paralysis • Cognitive Dissonance • PTSD • The Image of an Abuser • Telling Your Partner About Your Trauma • Finding a Safe, Secure Attachment • Shame • Polyamory • The Variety of Responses from People in Your Life • Signs of Abuse in a Relationship ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode, I delve into the topic of connecting with our inner wildness, specifically through the archetypal figure of the wild woman and the symbolism of wolves. Drawing from my personal experiences and insights gained from the book "Women Who Run With the Wolves" by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, I discuss the importance of reclaiming our wildness to heal from trauma and reconnect with our true selves. I also cover the work of the nonprofit organization Wolf Connection, which rescues and cares for wolf dogs and offers programs for underserved communities to connect with the wisdom of wolves. As always, be mindful of cultural appropriation and spiritual bypassing in our attempts to connect with animal symbolism and archetypes. Join me as I share my own journey of reconnecting with my inner wildness and explore ways to embrace your own wildness. → Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! · The Wolf Connection · "Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype" by Clarissa Pinkola Estés · Follow Simon Moya-Smith Topics/Triggers: • Wolf Connection • Our Inner Wildness • Lack of Freedom in a Patriarchal Capitalistic Society • Reclaiming Power • Listening to the Call of the Wild • The Wolf Connection & Retreat • How You Can Connect to Your Inner Wolf • Cultural Appropriation & Animal Spiritualism • Life, Death, and Experiences • Mindful Approaches to Animal Archetypes • Survivors & the Wisdom of the Wolf ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode of Initiated Survivor, I'm opening up and sharing my personal experience with trauma anniversaries and how I navigated my 10 Year Anniversary of Sexual Assault. I discuss what trauma anniversaries are, how they affect survivors, and share coping strategies for getting through them. One of these key tools that I found helpful was the power of ritual and ceremony in trauma recovery. I delve into how these practices can communicate with our unconscious mind and help us heal from trauma. I even reached out to my therapist, support groups, and loved ones for help and it made the world of difference. If your trauma anniversary is coming up, or you know someone who has one approaching, this episode was made specifically to give you tools to cope and heal. You got this. → Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! Topics/Triggers: • Trauma Anniversary • PTSD • Witch Practices to Heal: Germanic Paganism, Norse Paganism, and Scottish Druidism • Heightened Anxiety & Emotional Sensitivity • Taking Care of Yourself • Reaching Out to Your Support System • Flight, Fright, Freeze, Appease • Acknowledging & Honoring Your Survival • Gratitude Practices • Manifestation and Goals • Our Unconscious Mind • Ceremony & Ritual ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Rena Martine, a women's intimacy expert and ex-sex crimes Deputy District Attorney, about the intersection of trauma and sexuality. We discussed how coaches can work towards a more inclusive and less colonized approach to supporting survivors, as well as the healing potential of BDSM and Kink. Rena shared her insights and expertise on how survivors can reclaim their sexuality and overcome triggers through exposure therapy and restaging traumatic events while normalizing conversations around sexual fantasies and desires. If you're interested in learning more about Rena's work, check out her Shameless program on her website or send her a DM on Instagram! → Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! Topics/Triggers: • Being a Sex Crimes Deputy DA • Sexuality & Healing • Monogamy & Nonmonogamy • Sex Positivity • Savage Lovecast • Marriage and Divorce • Consensual Nonconsensual Fantasies • Examples of Guiding Clients Through Sexual Trauma • Exposure Therapy • Reclaiming Intimacy as Women • Purity Culture • DDLG & DS • SA Survivors and Kink • Repairing the Relationship between Ourselves and Our Bodies Connect with Rena: — Website: https://www.renamartine.com/ — Instagram @_rena.martine_ : https://www.instagram.com/_rena.martine_/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In this episode, I sit down with Kaleigh Cornelison, an expert working with youth ages 14-24 on issues including relationships, identity, sexual health, and life transitions. We dive into the topic of consent culture and pleasure-based sex education, especially for LGBTQ+ youth. We discuss the challenges and opportunities of teaching consent culture and how to model consent in different situations and relationships, and how adults can repair their relationship with consent in order to create a safe and empowering environment for young people. Our conversation is filled with insights and ideas that can help promote a positive culture of consent and freedom. Topics/Triggers: Consent Culture & Clear Communication Enthusiastic Consent Freely given, Responsible, Informed, Enthusiastic, Specific (FRIES) Access to Pleasure-Based Sex Education Unethical porn, false information, and unsafe intimacy practices Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism (TERF) Gender-affirming care Inclusive Sex Education Modeling Consent Social Media Usage & Boundaries Repairing Relationship with Consent as a Survivor Respecting "No" Freedom from Consent LGBTQ+ Youth Resources: • Kaleigh's Website • Listen to Initiated Survivor Episode 55: "Kaleigh Cornelison on Gender Based Violence for Adolescence: Teen Dating & Violence" • Listen to Initiated Survivor Episode 58: "Mistress Justine Cross on Consent, Kink Communities, and BDSM" ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram! Subscribe to the Initiated Survivor YouTube Channel!

Welcome back to Ask a Psychologist Anything! In Part One, I answered questions about sensory processing disorders, being an ally, and being a support system. In this 2nd installment, we tackle PTSD, coping with triggers, navigating dating as a survivor, and finding a good fit therapist. I offer practical strategies for soothing the body's response to triggers, as well as how to move forward and identify the next best step for you in your own journey. I also discuss ways that you can find a therapist that actually works for you, and how to potentially fix a previously broken therapeutic relationship through open communication tactics with your therapist of choice. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! Topics/Triggers: PTSD Symptoms Tips for Living with PTSD Establishing Safety Remembrance and Mourning Integration and Reconnection What Are Triggers Triggers vs. Emotions Coping with a Body's Response to a Trigger Dating as a Survivor Nuclear Families Finding Community Getting a Good Therapist Therapy Websites Rebuilding the Bond Between You & Your Therapist Resources: • Listen to Initiated Survivor "Mistress Justine Cross on Consent, Kink Communities, and BDSM" • Listen to Initiated Survivor: "Ask a Psychologist Anything: Repressed Memories, Sensory Processing Disorder, and Being an Ally" • Warmies for Adults • Therapy Den • Mental Health Match • Psychology Today ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram! Subscribe to the Initiated Survivor YouTube Channel!

Mistress Justine Cross is a professional BDSM consultant, kink educator, and lifestyle Dominatrix based in Los Angeles. Justine is the owner of Dungeon East and has over 15 years experience as a lifestyle Dominatrix and BDSM consultant, being featured on several magazines and newspapers including The Try Guys, Los Angeles Magazine, Playboy, Nylon, LA Weekly, Time Out Los Angeles, Buzzfeed, Salon, Vice, Huffington Post and The Guardian. In this episode, Justine sits down with Kelsey to discuss the importance of consent and communication in both BDSM and survivor communities. They cover how the kink community can be accessible to survivors, the importance of boundaries and aftercare, and why we all need to practice negotiation and consent in all areas of life. Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! · Connect with Justine Here · Learn More About Dungeon East · Follow Justine on IG @thejustinecross · Watch Justine's Work on YouTube · Justine's Website & The Kink Negotiation Worksheet Topics/Triggers: Kink Communities Negotiations, Consent, and Boundaries The Power of Reclaiming Your Sexuality Why Abstinence Education Fails Us Survivors & Consensual Experiences Rape Culture How The Heteronormative View of Sex Minimizes Pleasure Aftercare Safe Words Checking In With Your Body Gender Pay Gap & Systemic Inequality Empowering Women to Have Agency BDSM (Bondage and discipline, domination and submission, sadism and masochism) SSC (Safe, Sane, and Consensual) RAC (Risk Aware, Consensual Kink) PRICK (Personal Responsibility Informed Consensual Kink) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Dr. Dani Rosenkrantz is a licensed psychologist in Florida, a Jewish and LGBTQ+ Mental Health Expert, a LGBTQ+ and BIPOC Empowerment Collaborator, and Sexual Health and Wellness Champion. She founded Brave Space Psychology, where she aims to help others trust their inner wisdom, while conquering the feeling of self-doubt, anxiety, and disconnection that can overwhelm us. I sit down with her to talk about intersectionality in sexual trauma, and how oppressive forces aim to separate and isolate individuals of communities. She shares how empowering it can be to reclaim love, joy, and self-compassion in the face of oppression. Throughout our conversation, Dr. Rosenkrantz gives insights and strategies for survivors of all identities and backgrounds to create supportive communities, build resiliences, and begin healing. Topics/Triggers: Impact of Sexual Trauma & the Contributing Systemic Forces The Power of Community Fighting Against Oppressive Powers Why Stay in Florida Intersectional Identities Being Jewish and Queer Recognizing Privilege in Ourselves and Those Around Us Radical Joy & Radical Care "You're Loved" Documentary Pride Shabbats Keshet Jewish Queer Youth Mister Rogers & Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Contact Dr. Dani Rosenkrantz at DrDani@bravespacepsych.com ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Welcome to a new series on Initiated Survivor where I will be answering any and all listener questions about recovery, healing, trauma, and anything else you would like to know from a psychologist. In Part 1, I answer questions about repressed memories, the risk of false memories, sensory processing disorders, treating someone who has said disorder, and how to best support a friend who may be struggling with their recovery after being sexually assaulted. All questions will be anonymous to protect everyone's privacy, and if you want your question to be answered next time, please contact me through DM or through my website! Watch the Full Video Podcast Here! Topics/Triggers: Repressed Memories EMDR Somatic Experiencing False Memories Traumatic Memories CBT Prolonged Exposure Body Sensations Unethical Therapeutic Practices Re-traumatization Sensory Processing Disorders: OCD, ADHD, Trauma, Anxiety, Depression, Autism Visual Processing Disorders: Dyslexia, Reading Dyscalculia, Visual Spatial Type of Processing Supporting a Friend Being an Ally ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Kaleigh Cornelison, LMSW, LCSW, specializes on working with teens, educating them on dating violence, sexual assault, bystander intervention, and consent. In this episode, Kaleigh shares her expert knowledge on the way that sexual assault and gender based violence is effecting the youth of today. She covers the various forms of intimate partner violence that teens are most susceptible to, how teens give her hope for the future, and what we can do as adults to be allies to the young people of today. Topics/Triggers: Gender Based Violence for Adolescence Intimate Partner Violence: Physical, Emotional, Mental, Financial, and Digital Bystander Intervention Consent Breaking Generational Cycles Teen Sexual Assault How Adult Allies Can Help The Belief that Love equals Jealousy "Mutual" Abuse Breakups as Teens ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This is the month where we focus in on ourselves and our survivor community, centering our healing and recovery. I wanted to sit down and talk to you about some of what is going on this month, and the ways that I am trying to heal and what you could do for yourself this month too. Topics/Triggers: Survivor Love Letter by Tani Ikeda Denim Day by Peace Over Violence Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory By Sarah Polley Francesca Lia Block's Writing Workshops Reclaiming What Was Taken Eat Predators Treating Our Body Well ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Kristen Hogan was last seen on the podcast in "Good, Strong, and Brave with Kristen Hogan" where she recounted her experience with surviving intimate partner violence. As a founder of Good.Strong.Brave, Kristen wants to empower other women to feel good enough as they are. Part of that is having the resiliency to go on in spite of the trauma we as survivors have endured. It is from our pain that we gain wisdom about who we are and what the world is. But that wisdom can hold uncomfortable truths, and Kristen and I speak on how our worldviews changed after our encounters with sexual violence and why resiliency helped us stay on the path of healing. Topics/Triggers: Resiliency Generational Trauma Sexual Assault on College Campuses + Consent Peter Levine, Ph.D's Somatic Experiencing Wisdom from Recovery The Desire to Change the World The Gateways to Surrender Path to Acceptance Being a Good Ally The Power of Words Dismantling the Patriarchy through Community ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Radical Genuineness is a skill, principle, and personal value that focuses on saying what you mean as you are. It is directly tied to authenticity and honesty in your relationships. It was also something that was very difficult for me to accomplish in my own life, as I used to be afraid about sharing all of who I was with the people around me. With practice, I was slowly able to show up genuinely rather than simply placating people. I want you all to be able to do the same. So, in this skills spotlight, I break down what Radical Genuineness means and give you tips to accept yourself without judgement. Topics/Triggers: Authenticity + Honesty Trauma Relationships Prioritizing the Needs of Others Over Our Own The Vulnerability of Being Yourself Survival Mode and Placating Others Flight, Fight, Fawn, and People Pleasing What We're Saying with Radical Genuineness How We're Saying Things with Radical Genuineness Accurate Expression Stephen King on the Important Things ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Barb Jenkins was last on the podcast in 2022, in the episode "Reclaiming Justice". Now, she comes back on to share all that she has done to find a way back to herself again. Part of what she lost in her attack was the joy she had in her hobbies like volunteering. While she will never be the same person she used to be, she has found new ways to help other survivors and even make a change with perpetrators of sexual violence by going into prisons and educating them on rape culture.. She has reclaimed so much of her power, and now hopes to inspire others to continue on even if all hope seems lost. Topics/Triggers: Reclaiming Hobbies Legal System Biases Against Survivors Finding Community Sharing Recovery Journeys The Supreme Court Finding Our True Selves Again Jane Doe No More JDNM Survivors Facebook Group "Burying Jane Doe: A Journey of Courage and Strength" by Barb Jenkins ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

These last few months I have taken a step back from several things in my life, due to a lot of overwhelming anxiety and fear. Even though I could logically understand that my feeling of doom was inaccurate, my body still felt as through something terrible was right around the corner. So how do you keep going when everything is falling apart? In this episode, I open up about how I personally got through this moment of anxiety and reached a place of safety again. If you are going through this now, please know I am keeping you and all of our fellow survivors in my heart. You can survive this. At the episode, we have included our previously released "Bonus: Skills Spotlight- Mammalian Dive Reflex for Anxiety and Emotional Distress" where we walk through how to use our body's natural survival mechanism, the Mammalian Dive Reflex, deliberately. Topics/Triggers: Anxiety and Panic Attacks Social Supports Vulnerability Therapy Spiraling Thoughts Structure + Safety Survivor PTSD Medication Surrendering to the Moment The Mammalian Dive Reflex ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Raina LaGrand (she/her) is a Mixed (Black and white) Queer therapist, coach, and speaker based in Ypsilanti, MI. In her practice she helps mixed people embody their identities with confidence and build the community they've always dreamed of. She also helps intergenerational couples have brave conversations about identity, family, trauma, boundaries, and more. In this episode, we discuss the loss of identity that follows a sexual assault, and how it resembled a controlled burn. Topics/Triggers: Loss of Identity from Trauma Connection to Community Physical Reactions, Anxiety, and Bodily Discomfort Trauma as a Grief Experience The Controlled Burn of Rebuilding ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

You may remember Bobbie Becerra from her previous episode on Intimated Survivor, where she recounted her life and childhood abuse. She opened up about how she broke her own generational chains, and stopped her cycle of trauma. One of the essential steps in that was to let go of the societal pressure placed on survivors to forgive their abusers. Instead, Bobbie has adopted a method of reconciliation, where she recognizes the multiple truths she is living at one time. We share how our religious upbringing instilled the notion that to forgive was our duty, why our trauma interfered with that ability to forgive, and the natural human emotion that is anger. Topics/Triggers: Christianity and Catholicism The Pressure to Forgive Childhood Abuse and Familial Sexual Assault Anger The Power of Reconciliation ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In our last episode with Kat McGinty, we explored larger scale methods to creating survivor-safe communities. In this follow-up, I wanted to take the same topic down to an individual basis, and explore the ways that we as individuals can help create communities where survivors will feel safe. Following the publication of the Open Letter in Support of Amber Heard as well as the release of the film "She Said", I've been feeling a renewed hope for a sexual violence free future. In order to get to that world free of gender-based violence, we must all do the work to dismantle any prejudices we may have through thought diffusion and non-judgmental mindful stances. Topics/Triggers: Amber Heard Open Letter She Said (2022) Film about New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor Breaking the Story on Harvey Weinstein Why the Carceral System is Not the Solution Domestic Violence and Intimate Partner Violence Saying the Uncomfortable Things Out Loud How White Feminism & White Supremacy Hurts Survivors Checking Our Privileges and Believing Survivors The Myths of a "Just World" and False Reports Non-judgmental Mindful Stances Going Against Our Automatic Thoughts + Beliefs ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Kat McGinty was last on the podcast to share her recovery journey and how she went from survivor to thriver. Since then, Kat has created her own female-led production company to provide a safe space for other survivors in the entertainment industry. She takes us through her decision to start a business, her perspective on the Me Too movement from an insider's perspective, and what survivors can do for fellow survivors. Topics/Triggers: Rape Culture Brett Kavanaugh, Harvey Weinstein, and The Me Too Movement Protecting Survivors First Sexual Assault in the Entertainment Industry Why Uma Thurman is Angry The Connection Between Gender, Survivors, and Perpetrators Creating Our Own Safe Spaces Using Privilege to Aid Others Check out and support Kat's new production company, Wandering Kat Media, here! ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In episode 44, Olivia Pepper spoke on the heavy gifts that survivors receive throughout the "after". It made me look back on the first year of the podcast including my previous thoughts on believing all survivors — episodes 1 and 2 of Initiated Survivor, "Why I Believe All Survivors" and "We Believe All Survivors". In these early episodes, the strategies I spoke about were primarily on an individual level. But when believing all survivors takes the dismantling of far-reaching systemic injustices, what can we as individuals do? Listen to the full episode to find out. Topics/Triggers: Rest & The future of this podcast The realities of trauma recovery Reclaiming our power and community The myth of false reports The status quo of misogyny How rape culture responds to allegations of sexual assault The pathologizing of survivors White female privilege Why some believe sexual assault is an "anomaly" The trauma of reporting to a carceral state ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Olivia Pepper is returning to Initiated Survivor after their previous episode, "Nurturing Trauma Through Community", where they spoke about their transition from victim to survivor. In this episode, Olivia has returned to tell more about their recovery journey and how the process of healing themselves has led them to activism for others. We speak on community, the work of those that came before us, and how to best show up for survivors. They share with us their vision of the future, why they have been driven to action, and what they want other survivors to know. Topics/Triggers: Childhood sexual molestation Recovering lost memories Fear of sexual relationships Date rape Intimate partner violence Rape culture Take Back the Night Foundation Political activism and systemic change Taboos Supreme Court nominations and rulings Tori Amos, the first national spokesperson for the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, RAINN Find out more about Olivia here! ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

In the aftermath of the unprecedented reversal of established precedent, survivors are left wondering what to do. With the Supreme Court becoming increasingly more conservative following the reversal of Roe vs. Wade, many of us survivors are left with a staggering loss of bodily autonomy, independence, and resources. In a follow-up from my previous take on the United States post-Roe vs. Wade, I open up about the ramifications of this Supreme Court decision and what we can do in the here and now. Topics/Triggers: Why we need to vote both locally & federally to protect survivors' rights Abortion Rights & Women's Liberation What having abortion resources meant for my own recovery story The implications of exceptions for incest and rape How the government is infringing upon a survivor's right to privacy & body autonomy Success Stories Program ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Amy Malin is the creator and CEO of Trueheart, which serves as an in-between of Hollywood and philanthropy. A survivor of sexual assault and human trafficking, Amy founded Trueheart during her recovery process. Alongside her husband/business partner Scott Malin, Amy has raised thousands for a wide variety of causes including Domestic Violence, Gender Equality, HIV/AIDS, Homelessness, Human Trafficking, Hunger, LGBTQ+ Rights, Poverty, Racial Equality, The Arts, The Environment, Women's Empowerment, and more. Today, she shares how she came to be so passionate about helping others and why she chooses to live her life leading with hope, light, and love. Topics/Triggers: Domestic violence Sexual assault Human trafficking Hope Suicide The difference between abusive relationships and healthy relationships Depression, PTSD, and Anxiety Mirroring Work and Affirmations Hot Yoga The healing nature of tattoos Being Unbreakable Authenticity and Vulnerability ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Kim Mecklenburg survived childhood sexual assault from family as well as at the hands of her commanding officers during her time in the Marine Corps. Taking us through how she was able to recover due in part to the aid of psychedelics, Kim shares what it means to finally feel free in her body once again. She has also taken what she learned about survival and recovery and turned it into Kim Chi Wisdom, where she helps to dismantle rape culture by performing "Life Intelligence™ For Leaders" Workshops. She also helps other survivors with their recoveries through neuroscience-backed methods — letting them overcome and leverage past trauma. Topics/Triggers: Sexual abuse from father and brother The neural rewiring that happens after rape Disassociation Marine Corps silencing sexual assault and protecting predators Letting go of control Narcissistic Abuse Establishing boundaries with others Finding people to trust again Using neuroscience to tackle trauma Psychedelics and understanding your own brain High-achieving people with trauma Why "boys will be boys" is a damaging phrase Overcoming feelings of unworthiness and shame ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Nichol Bridges is a survivor of multiple incidents of violence. A current member of the RAINN Speakers Bureau, Nicole bears all in this Initiated Survivor interview. From her childhood when she encountered unwanted sexual advances from men much older than her, to being assaulted by multiple peers, to suffering violence at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, Nichol recounts these horrific experiences as an open book. Nichol's strength shines through her raw honesty of her life as a survivor. Taking us through the moment she first started to heal to when she decided to become a force of change, Nichol is paying it forward by working to create a better place for all of us. Topics/Triggers: Childhood sexual abuse Being raped by a friend Forced oral penetration Shame and fear paralysis "What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing" by Dr. Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey The way the mind is change by trauma Hyper sexuality and hyper sensitivity Substance abuse Being dismissed by the police Rape kits Hoffman Institute PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, and other illness that correlate to surviving sexual assault Julian Walker: Mind-Body Practice Dr. Dan Allender The Hunting Ground Documentary Joyce Meyers' books ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Kat McGinty experienced multiple assaults that had a lasting impact on her life and mental and physical health. After a long recovery process and battle against constant panic attacks, Kat has gone from survivor to thriver. She takes us through the impact of the immediate aftermath of her assaults and how the initial reactions of those around her stunned her into silence. The minimization that she faced caused her to go into a level of heightened stress anytime she even contemplated telling her story to others. Coming onto the podcast in this episode is a milestone in her recovery. Kat shares her story so that others know that this was not your fault, you did not deserve what happened to you, and things will be better. Topics/Triggers: Being sexually assaulted in a crowd Dismissive comments from friends Anonymously reporting to the police Date rape drugs and rape The social conditioning that creates victims Minimization of sexual assault and rape How to be an ally to sexual assault survivors EMDR (Listen to our episode here to find out more) Coping with panic attacks Mental health and eating disorders Re-learning that things can be good ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Kelly Johnson is a writer, public speaker, community engagement professional, and survivor of sexual violence. She has her masters in Public History from American University and is extremely passionate about literature. She created a Writers for Hope, which seeks to raise money for The Every Voice Coalition and the Lambda Legal Fund through the annual auctioning of books, writing advice, and story-based items. Today she comes onto the podcast to share her story of survival. Early one morning, Kelly was brutally beaten and violated by a stranger who was waiting outside her home. In what she calls the shattering of her mind, Kelly takes us back to that morning and the far-reaching effects that her trauma has on her life. Topics/Triggers: The cultural and societal systems that cultivate rape culture Retelling of the sexual assault, including being beaten and raped in her apartment The response from her local police and medical professionals Dealing with the shared trauma of her best friend and loved ones The myth of what survivors are "supposed" to do Defense mechanisms STD prevention post-assault The powerful motivator of anger Choosing not to forgive Follow Kelly on Twitter to stay up to date with all she does for survivors! ​ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

"You are good enough. You are strong enough. You are brave enough." This is Kristen Hogan's mantra — one that she has lived by throughout her recovery journey. Now a mental health and intimate partner violence advocate, Kristen has turned her mantra into a platform, Good.Strong.Brave, to help empower young women in the face of trauma. Lacking any sexual education from her school or family, Kristen shares the shock that came from realizing she had been assaulted and drugged by her then-boyfriend. Kristen's story is important and more common than many believe, with current statistics from RAINN showing that 8 out of 10 rapes are committed by someone known to the victim. She takes us through her survivor story, why she chooses to share it, and what brought her into advocacy. Topics/Triggers: Sexual assault on college campuses Intimate partner violence Date rape drugs Spiked drinks Domestic violence Suicidal ideation Substance abuse The importance of sexual education How society shapes perpetrators and victims alike The decades-long impact sexual assault has on survivors' lives Peace Over Violence "Amy Purdy: The Power of Visualization" on Oprah's Super Soul ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering from trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Bobbie Becerra is the author of Learning to Take It: How I Learned to Accept Abuse where she recounts her life and the childhood abuse that impacted her journey. A Los Angeles native raised by her mother, Bobbie thought it was normal for her and her brother to suffer through physical and sexual abuse. She talks about how difficult it was to become aware of the generational trauma and actually break the cycle of trauma. It was only after 30 years of being trapped in a constant state of abuse that she found a way out through writing her memoir. Now a motivational speaker and storyteller, Bobbie hopes to spark change through open discussion and personal connection. You can follow her on her website, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Topics/Triggers: Childhood abuse, both sexual and physical Generational trauma and being in a trauma cycle How the brain and body holds memories and experiences Reconnecting with her brother and fellow survivor through writing Dealing with trauma triggers without shame Confidentiality vs. Secrecy Grooming, and how an abused child can grow into an abused adult The foster system Mandatory reporters The fear of being taken from your family ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Ginger Rex has an undeniable warrior fighter spirit. She survived a brutal assault by a home intruder, and spent decades learning how to be with herself again. Finally finding a sense of peace after reevaluating her relationship with God, Ginger opens up about her recovery journey. From distancing herself from enablers, to gently overcoming her triggers with the help of her daughters and husband, to letting go of her relentless pursuit of justice, Ginger has found a way back to herself again and hopes that sharing her story will help others do the same. Topics/Triggers: Flight, Fight, Fawn, Freeze, and Rage Serial rapists Being assaulted during a home invasion Losing trust in the police The lack of resources in college and society at large for survivors The double-edged sword of seeking justice Having her story told without her permission Not letting our loved ones enable unhealthy coping methods Replacing traumatic memories with happy ones Religion, Christianity, and forging her own relationship with God Choosing to heal Reclaiming freedom and receiving peace Why trauma is too big for us Krav Maga, Yoga, Eating Well, Drinking Water, and the value of good sleep ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Meghan Goode is a therapist and survivor who, after a lifetime of recovery, is a true warrior. She shares her story of being assaulted by a group of three males that she was familiar with in the spring of 1987 in her early teens. Having been abused by her parents and bullied by her peers, she shares how her life was impacted by what these "community heroes" had done to her. From substance abuse to a suicide attempt, it wasn't until Meghan got her masters in counseling and began to help other victims that she started to heal. She grew to want to become an advocate for others like her and, after years of compartmentalization, finally felt like her assault no longer owned her. Topics/Triggers: Her assault, what happened after, and compartmentalization Shame and guilt due to being drunk and being bullied Substance abuse Suicide attempt Reconnecting with her bullies and abusers decades later due to social media The statute of limitations Her journey to becoming a therapist and beginning her EMDR certification Interferences to her recovery Legal Cases Mentioned: Steubenville, Stanford, and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!

Barbie Jenkins is a fierce, brave survivor who chose to stay true to herself after a lifetime of abuse. Now a part of the Survivors Speak Outreach Team at Jane Doe No More, Barb joins the podcast today to share her experience as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and being an adult rape survivor by a man she had sought to help. She takes us through the process of going to court, the effect of realizing that she was on trial rather than her attacker, as well as the fear she felt towards losing her family and reputation. Barb also shares a few sentences from her Victim Impact Statement, and speaks to us about how the Justice System failed her. Topics/Triggers: Child sexual abuse Surviving being attacked by a man who went from a lost soul she sought to help to her assaulter, stalker, and rapist Barb's immediate reaction during/after the attack Why there are more bystanders than perpetrators or victims Learning to accept what the body does in order to survive Barb's experience as a victim in the Criminal Justice System How "Jane Doe" stole her identity and spirit Revictimization at the hands of the Montana Supreme Court ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you took anything away from today's podcast, please share it with someone who may need to hear it. And if you really want to support the podcast please give us a rate/review. If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today's Find a Therapist directory) Find more Initiated Survivor content here and on Instagram!