I’m Emma and I’m 34. I was 15 when I was raped by an older man who I thought was my friend. I kept this to myself, I was so ashamed. Unfortunately, from the traumatic experience I was diagnosed at 17 with fibromyalgia, anxiety, and depression I was in a very bad place and felt […]
LEARN MORE
You’ve heard of self-esteem and self-confidence before, of course, but have you heard of sexual self-esteem? It’s an aspect of your self-confidence that’s important to consider, especially as a survivor of child sexual abuse. First, a definition. The Harvey Institute1 defines sexual self-esteem as positive regard for and confidence in the capacity to experience one’s […]
Learn More
Leslie experienced deep anger about being sexually abused.1 She was angry about what had happened to her and her inability to fight her abuser. Ironically, Leslie’s anger was buried so deep that her feelings were subconscious. Rather than feeling outwardly angry about what had happened to her, she had trouble sleeping at night. Until Leslie […]
Learn More
Earlier this month I packed my things into my car and made the 350-mile drive from Idaho to Utah to start a new job at The Younique Foundation. As I drove through the sagebrush-dotted landscape, through rain and snow and then the rain again, my attention shifted from Idaho’s temperamental spring weather to the nervousness […]
Learn More
Trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk shared that one of his patients who had been sexually abused as a child remembers feeling like the abuse happened to someone else. She said that when the abuse occurred, “she floated up to the ceiling, looking down on some other little girl.” Her memory of the abuse was […]
Learn More
Guest blog by Leslie Clark, clinician Mindfulness…What is it really? Many people think mindfulness is a practice requiring great focus and technique. Some think it may not be accessible to them. I have heard others say, “It seems like some sort of trend or fad.” The reality is mindfulness is a practice that can easily […]
Learn More
In 1960, Disney released a movie called Pollyanna (based on a book by the same name). The movie follows the escapades of a young girl, an irrepressible optimist named Pollyanna. Her sunny outlook is contagious and soon the formerly bitter town is looking for the good things in life. The secret behind Pollyanna’s cheerfulness is […]
Learn More
Imagine that you’re walking in a forest when you hear a suspicious sound in the distance. You can’t quite tell how close the noise is, and you don’t know what’s making it. But fear begins to develop when you hear a growling animal. Your initial reaction is to hold as still as possible. Your heart […]
Learn More
Communicating effectively can be difficult, especially in relationships. Add the trauma of childh sexual abuse into the mix, and you may find that you or your significant other struggle to understand and be understood. John Gottman, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at The University of Washington, developed research to identify the elements of stability in relationships. […]
Learn More
Imagine that you’re stacking rocks to build a pyramid. You lay a firm foundation of rocks and then stack another layer on top of that. You keep adding rocks until you reach the top layer that has just one rock. But you don’t stop there. You still have more rocks, so you keep stacking them, […]
Learn More
Have you ever felt lonely? Chances are, you have. It’s one of those things that affects almost everyone at one time or another. Yet, we rarely talk about it. In an article on loneliness, Sam Juric said, “I fear the presence of loneliness. The way it feels. What it may signal to people about who […]
Learn More