“Honor yourself for all the ways you learned to take care of yourself during your abuse ~” — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Survivors of abuse show us the strength of their personal spirit every time they smile.” — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Honoring all ways we survived our childhood abuse is healing. We were amazing and courageous.” — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Hiding my pain and acting strong, afraid to cry and show my tears, I struggle with all this years later.” — Erin Merryn Copy Share Image
“And Ana remembered her father's words, "Say no! Run! Tell me!” — Carolyn Byers Ruch Copy Share Image
“Don't put your child at risk. Limit unsupervised one-on-one time between your child & another adult or another child.” — Carolyn Byers Ruch Copy Share Image
“Imagine, pretend, and play so you can become anyone you want to be. You don't need to be afraid.” — Carolyn Byers Ruch Copy Share Image
“We aren't the weeds in the crack of life. We're the strong,amazing flowers that found a way to grow in the most… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“There are many times we think we aren’t able, don’t deserve, can’t imagine, wouldn’t dare, or couldn’t possibly make the choice for… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Survivors are often incredibly aware and perceptive. What was born of necessity becomes a response that is gentle and understanding.” — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Games where someone wants to touch your body where your swimsuit covers or they ask you to touch their body where their… — Carolyn Byers Ruch Copy Share Image
“Abuse is never contained to a present moment, it lingers across a person’s lifetime and has pervasive long-term ramifications.” — Lorraine Nilon Copy Share Image
“When we learn to recognize the unique quality of Memory-Dreams, we are empowered. The abused child within us is using them to… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“You can recognize survivors by their creativity. In soulful, insightful, gentle, and nurturing creations, they often express the inner beauty they brought… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“When we talk with our children about sexual abuse, we are not only taking a proactive step toward protecting them, we are… — Carolyn Byers Ruch Copy Share Image
“Disclosures of childhood sexual abuse have frequently been discredited through the diagnosis of hysteria. In this view, women/female children were seen either… — Judith L. Alpert Copy Share Image
“In the weeds of childhood sexual abuse, we are the sturdy flowers that kept reaching for a slip of sunshine and a… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“I was just four when a hired teenage field hand attempted to molest me. Miraculously, I got away, and I told my… — Carolyn Byers Ruch Copy Share Image
“There is a moment in our healing journey when our denial crumbles; we realize our experience and it's continued effects on us… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Stuffing our memories might become familiar over the years, but it requires a mental vigilance that separates us from our inner world.… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“So many moments of potential holiday joy got buried in the pain of our abuse. Now these days offer us a chance… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“It was that culture of denial that allowed my abuse to take place to start with. Did you know that it wasn't… — Carolyn Spring Copy Share Image
“The fear of abandonment forced me to comply as a child, but I’m not forced to comply anymore. The key people in… — Christina Enevoldsen Copy Share Image
“Dissociated trauma memories don't reveal themselves like ordinary memories. Like pieces of a puzzle, they escape the primitive part of our brain… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Dissociation stopped any capacity for her to learn from experience, to foresee, to protect. Abby walked the path of her life unable… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“The witch-hunt narrative is a really popular story that goes like this: Lots of people were falsely convicted of child sexual abuse… — Ross Cheit Copy Share Image
“It was Freud's ambition to discover the cause of hysteria, the archetypal female neurosis of his time. In his early investigations, he… — Judith Lewis Herman Copy Share Image
“interview from Ross E. Cheit about The Witch-Hunt Narrative: Politics, Psychology, and the Sexual Abuse of Children (Oxford University Press, February 2014).… — Ross Cheit Copy Share Image
“The Legend of Robert Halsey This article examines the criminal conviction of Robert Halsey for sexually abusing two young boys on his… — Ross Cheit Copy Share Image
“You can recognize survivors of abuse by their courage. When silence is so very inviting, they step forward and share their truth… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“When you feel caught in the web of childhood abuse, find words to describe it. Write them. Say them. Express them. In… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Soul Abuse is the destruction of a victim's awareness of the strength within their soul. It stems from the abuser's intention to… — Lorraine Nilon Copy Share Image
“Not only do I believe children can be reliable in sexual abuse cases, I believe the vast majority of them are reliable… — Stephen J. Ceci Copy Share Image
“Sometimes, during our healing journeys, those closest to us can’t help even though we all wish it could be that way. Allow… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“There are many heartfelt reasons for pushing our childhood sexual abuse to the edge of our lives and one amazing reason to… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Build a bridge over shame by teaching kids about sexual abuse. Give them a chance to run to us should they encounter… — Carolyn Byers Ruch Copy Share Image
“It takes Wonder Woman courage and Superman strength to heal the wounds of our abuse... because it brings change... and we are… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Our abusive parent didn't give us the gentle, encouraging nurturing we needed. But healing invites us to give our inner child the… — Jeanne McEvlaney Copy Share Image
“Logic becomes a loud voice when the wall of our past abuse begin to crack with awareness. But that's our adult speaking.… — Jeanne McElvaney Copy Share Image
“Sometimes I hesitate to use the term sexual abuse. It conjures up worst-case scenarios in our minds, and we think, "That will… — Carolyn Byers Ruch Copy Share Image
