Overcoming Child Sexual Abuse ~ With Kathy Andersen

Today, we’ve reached our #1 most popular episode, 101 WAYS TO HEAL—PRACTICES TO HEAL TRAUMA & THRIVE, with special guest Linda Curran. 

Linda is a trauma specialist, clinician, best-selling author, film producer, and a sought after national trainer on trauma.  When I read Linda’s book,101 Trauma-Informed Interventions, I knew I needed to introduce Linda to you all because she brings together so many different tools for healing and trauma recovery that we can learn about and try out—in our time and our own space, and see which ones fit and which might be for another time. Now, 101 interventions might sound over-whelming, but it’s actually a world of possibilities for us – and this is what this podcast is all about – enabling each of us to find new ways to overcome the impact of child sexual abuse in our daily adult lives, step by step, day by day.

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Linda is an international speaker on the treatment of trauma, and has developed, produced, and presents multi-media workshops for clinicians and clients. Linda’s multi-media projects include a four-part video program as part of The Master Clinician Series, including Trauma Treatment: Psychotherapy for the 21st Century, Power Therapies: EMDR and Beyond,  EMDR: Step by Step, Treating Complex Trauma: Beyond Competency, and Addiction, Trauma, & Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Linda constantly advocates for accessible and integrative trauma treatment for all of those affected by trauma.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Welcome to the Top 10 Series. Today, we’re at our #2 most popular episode, Triggered To Heal—Experiencing Release, Peace & Growth, with Dr. Karen Baikie, PhD.

I started this podcast series in search of knowledge and experiences that can shift us beyond our abuse and trauma, because, as Maya Angelou encouraged us, “When we know better, we do better."  But, turning knowing into doing requires us to experience shifts that are deep and powerful enough to stop our habitual responses that hinder us rather than help us, and that happen faster than the speed of light when we are triggered in every day moments. That’s frustrating and it’s incredibly tiring for us all. 

In this podcast, I’m handing over the reigns to Karen to take me, and you, through three Hakomi experiences to tap into our places of safety, meet a part of ourselves that holds unresolved trauma, and gently and safety release some of the “stuckness” of that trauma that keeps us responding in old and harmful ways. It’s a journey—and I hope you experience some potentially life-shifting moments in this slightly longer podcast. By the end, I think you’ll be glad you hung in there! I was!

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today, we’re jumping into our #3 most popular episode, Breaking Myths and Revealing Paths to Happiness, Part 1, with Dr. Meg Jay.

Join me with the extraordinary Dr. Meg Jay PhD (Dr. Jay’s TED Talk is one of the most viewed TED Talks with almost 12 million views—that’s because she is truly an inspiration and a voice of wisdom and knowledge!). In Part 1 of this podcast episode, we’ll break myths and leap into discovery and tools to help overcome child sexual abuse: New insights that help us to understand how childhood trauma affects adults; the notion of “normal” and how that helps or harms us; and how our adult choices, not our childhood abuse, can lead to living a life that is happy and fulfilled.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today, we’re leaping into our #4 most popular episode, Trauma, Betrayal & Courage—Moving from Silence to Strength, with Dr. Jennifer Freyd.

Join me as I talk with Dr. Jennifer Freyd PhD, to understand how betrayal from childhood trauma “show ups” in our adulthood, and ways we can overcome those effects. 

Dr. Freyd is the founder of The Center for Institutional Courage and Affiliated Faculty at the Women's Leadership Lab at Stanford University.  

Dr. Freyd is world-renowned for her work on Betrayal trauma, Institutional Betrayal and Courage, and for her framework (DARVO) that identifies strategies used by abusers to manipulate their victims. 

This framework is so widely-known that actress, political activist, and sexual assault survivor, Ashley Judd, referenced it when discussing the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations in an interview with Diane Sawyer in 2017. 

Dr. Freyd has also been interviewed extensively by media in relation to the Harvey Weinstein case, and is sought internationally to talk about ways individuals can overcome childhood trauma, and how institutions play a role through betrayal and courage. Dr. Freyd’s books and speaking appearances have reached millions of people around the world.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today, we’re at the #5 most popular episode, Healing Sex—Beyond Sexual Trauma, with special guest, Staci Haines.

Staci is a national leader in Somatics, the field of connecting mind, body, brain, and behavior to allow us to release deep patterns of stress, anxiety and trauma that are stuck in our bodies.

Staci has been in the field of somatics and engaged in social change work for almost 30 years. Staci is the author of The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing and Social Justice which is based on her work to transform the impact of individual and social trauma, and strengthen the interdependence of personal and social change. Staci is also the author of Healing Sex: A Mind Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma – which is what we’ll be diving into in this podcast.

There’s so much in this book and as Staci writes, “Many survivors have a difficult relationship with their bodies. You may struggle with body hate, feeling that your body has betrayed you or that your body is an unsafe place to live. Having a body at all may be a problem for you.”  So today, we’re going to learn a lot and experience some powerful practices to shift our bodies into healing – to heal our sexual trauma from the past and to experience sexual healing in our lives today.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today, we’re at the #6 most popular episode, Breaking Myths & Revealing Paths to Happiness – Part Two, with Dr. Meg Jay (and just as a little spoiler, Part One is also coming up as we get closer to #1). 

Dr. Jay’s TED Talk is one of the most viewed TED Talks with almost 12 million views—that’s because she is truly an inspiration and a voice of wisdom and knowledge!

In Part 2 of this podcast with Dr. Meg Jay PhD, we'll break more myths, and dig deeper into insights and tools to help overcome child sexual abuse: we'll start by talking about "Naming It To Tame It” - the negative impact of keeping secrets and the freedom in sharing; then, we'll talk about depression– acknowledging it, tending to it, and overcoming it; and finally, we'll talk about the “thing” that makes your life yours – deciding what you want and fully living it!

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Welcome to The Top 10 Series! Today, we’re leaping into our #7 most popular episode, Beyond Damaging Parents—Living Happily Ever After, with special guest, the wonderful Dr. Lindsay Gibson. Dr. Gibson dramatically and importantly spotlights how the “emotional immaturity” of parents can hinder and hold us back in our adulthood, and how we can regain trust in ourselves and break free from the destructive and confusing effects of negative “programming” from childhood.

 In her book, Who You Were Meant To Be, Dr. Gibson focuses on how people can reconnect with their true self and sense of purpose, especially after experiencing negative parental impacts in childhood. In her subsequent books, Dr. Gibson introduces “Emotionally Immature Parents” and provides learning and tools to overcome the impacts of these parents, and how to rely on our own emotional guidance, strengthen our self-awareness, and increase our energy to live a full, happy, and purposeful life in adulthood.

   Dr. Gibson holds a Master’s degree and a Doctorate of Psychology in Clinical Psychology, and has also taught doctoral students in Clinical Psychology. She specializes in adult psychotherapy and personal growth counseling. 

   As Dr. Gibson highlights, “Your true self is so much more than your family role. Your past identity may have been formed in your relationship with your parents, but who you will become derives from your relationship to yourself.”

    We went a bit longer on this podcast because you can imagine there was a quite a lot to talk about – so if you need to break up your listening, please do – because there’s great insights through until the very end!

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Welcome to The Top 10 Series! We’re taking time to step back and listen to the top ten episodes from the last three seasons before we launch into our upcoming season five. I think the value of The Top 10 is in reinforcing that trauma shows up in many different ways in our daily lives, but also in many ways that are similar. We share a lot of the same triggers, feelings of betrayal, inadequacies, relationship challenges, anxieties, and more—even if we’re functioning incredibly well in everyday life. Or, even when we put out that we’re “just fine” when we really do need a little extra help. I hope this Top Ten Series gives you that “little extra help” so that you can keep stepping beyond the trauma you experienced as a child, and tap into the power you have to thrive in all that is ahead.

Today, we’re leaping into our #8 most popular episode, The Body Holds The Keys, with special guest, Dr. Pat Ogden, PhD. Dr. Ogden is a pioneer in somatic psychology, and the creator of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy method. Dr. Ogden is founder of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute and co-founder of the Hakomi Institute; she is trained in a huge range of somatic and psychotherapeutic approaches to healing and wellness, and has over 45 years of experience working with individuals and groups.

The body holds our trauma, but it also holds the keys to our healing. 

In this podcast, Dr. Ogden shares with us how the body has the innate intelligence and wisdom to reveal where and how we need to heal trauma that is still showing up in our adult lives—and that sometimes we’re not even aware of that trauma until it’s triggered in every day, present moments. In these moments, we have the choice to listen to the signals, sensations, and suggestions from our bodies to guide our next steps and respond differently to move forward into wellness and happiness.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Welcome to The Top 10 Series! We’re taking time to step back and listen to the top ten episodes from the last three seasons before we launch into our upcoming season five. I think the value of The Top 10 is in reinforcing that trauma shows up in many different ways in our daily lives, but also in many ways that are similar. We share a lot of the same triggers, feelings of betrayal, inadequacies, relationship challenges, anxieties, and more—even if we’re functioning incredibly well in everyday life. Or, even when we put out that we’re “just fine” when we really do need a little extra help. I hope this Top Ten Series gives you that “little extra help” so that you can keep stepping beyond the trauma you experienced as a child, and tap into the power you have to thrive in all that is ahead.

Today, we’re leaping into our #9 most popular episode, Beyond Trauma & Loss, Breaking the Silence Cycle, with special guest, Katherine Barner.

Katherine is a counsellor, coach, grief & trauma expert, author, speaker, and advocate against child sexual abuse. Katherine experienced child sexual abuse when she was fourteen, and her journey through abuse and other life trauma have fueled her journey to help others in the work to which she dedicates herself. In this podcast, we’re going to talk about Beyond Trauma and Loss – Breaking The Silence Cycle. 

Katherine encourages people, “The truth is, life is tough and sometimes really bad things happen. I know because I've had my share—from abuse to divorce, to financial hardship, and loss. But one of the things you’ll hear me say frequently is, “life happens to all of us, but the true story is told in how we respond to what has happened.””

Katherine earned her BA in Psychology from Spelman College, and a Masters in Education in Counseling from the University of North Texas. She is a certified crisis responder, Clinical Trauma Specialist, and trained EMDR practitioner.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Welcome to The Top 10 Series! We’re taking time to step back and listen to the top ten episodes from the last three seasons before we launch into our upcoming season five. I think the value of The Top 10 is in reinforcing that trauma shows up in many different ways in our daily lives, but also in many ways that are similar. We share a lot of the same triggers, feelings of betrayal, inadequacies, relationship challenges, anxieties, and more—even if we’re functioning incredibly well in everyday life. Or, even when we put out that we’re “just fine” when we really do need a little extra help. I hope this Top Ten Series gives you that “little extra help” so that you can keep stepping beyond the trauma you experienced as a child, and tap into the power you have to thrive in all that is ahead.

Today, we’re starting with our #10 most popular episode, Unblocking Trauma: Releasing Stuck Pain & Coming Alive, with special guest Deanna Hansen.  Deanna is the founder of Block Therapy and Fluid Isometrics and is also a certified athletic therapist.  For over 20 years, Deanna has helped thousands of people around the world heal from physical and emotional trauma through her programs, including her new 90-Day Trauma Relief program.

I only found out about this recently, I tried it, and it’s been mind-blowing for me – so I had to share it with you.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today, for the Season Finale for Season Three,  we’re joined by Linda Curran. Linda is a trauma specialist, clinician, best-selling author, film producer, and a sought after national trainer on trauma.  When I read Linda’s book, 101 Trauma-Informed Interventions, I knew I needed to introduce Linda to you all because she brings together so many different tools for healing and trauma recovery that we can learn about and try out—in our time and our own space, and see which ones fit and which might be for another time. Now, 101 interventions might sound over-whelming, but it’s actually a world of possibilities for us – and this is what this podcast is all about – enabling each of us to find new ways to overcome the impact of child sexual abuse in our daily adult lives, step by step, day by day.

Linda is an international speaker on the treatment of trauma, and has developed, produced, and presents multi-media workshops for clinicians and clients. Linda’s multi-media projects include a four-part video program as part of The Master Clinician Series, including  Trauma Treatment: Psychotherapy for the 21st Century, Power Therapies: EMDR and Beyond,  EMDR: Step by Step, Treating Complex Trauma: Beyond Competency, & Addiction, Trauma, & Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) . Linda constantly advocates for accessible and integrative trauma treatment for all of those affected by trauma.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today, I’m so grateful to be joined by Elena Morgan, formerly known as Ellen Morgan and prior to Ellen, known as Hilary Foretich. Elena’s mother, Elizabeth Morgan, was jailed for over 2 years in 1987 for protecting Elena from her sexually abusive father. Why was she jailed? Because after Elena revealed that she was being sexually abused by her father, and her mother sought custody through the courts, the judge ordered Elena’s mother to allow her abusive father to have unsupervised visits of Elena at her father’s house.


Knowing Elena would suffer continued abuse, Elena’s maternal grandparents took Elena to New Zealand, defying the court order. When Elena’s mother would not reveal Elena’s whereabouts, the judge sent her to jail. Her abusive father remained free. 

In 1989, after extensive efforts, Rep. Frank Wolf introduced a bill that became the District of Columbia Civil Contempt Imprisonment Limitation Act.  As a result, in that year, Elizabeth Morgan was freed after 759 days in prison, and joined her daughter and parents in New Zealand.

In 1992, the story of the case was made into a television film, A Mother's Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story.

Elena is now a physician and continues to look for ways to help overcome injustices that still confront victims of child sexual abuse.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today, I’m so grateful to be joined by Dr. Patrick Fratellone, MD. Patrick transformed my thinking and feeling about how doctors can help us heal and overcome the physical and emotional impacts of child sexual abuse in our adult lives. But that’s also because Patrick is not your conventional doctor—I hope he’ll do the same for you in this podcast!

Dr. Fratellone’s guiding philosophy is a raw, real, and highly individualized approach to health and well-being. Patrick is guided by his personal mission to serve, empower and partner with his patients on the path to wellness, transformation, and wholeness, beyond what he came to see as conventional “cookbook medicine” that can too often leave patients unhealed and hooked on medications. Born with an undiagnosed  congenital heart disease, and inspired by his grandparents’ use of herbs and plants as remedies, Dr. Fratellone become passionate about nurturing the intrinsic healing of the whole person.

As Dr. Fratellone was pursuing his more creative approach to healing, he was recruited by the late Dr. Robert Atkins, (the world-renowned physician and cardiologist, best known for the Atkins Diet) to become Chief of Medicine and Director of Cardiology at the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine. “Practice what you believe in,” were the words of advice to Patrick from Dr. Atkins, and those words committed Patrick to do just that. Following Dr. Atkins’ death, Patrick moved to Arizona to work with the now-celebrity integrative doctor, Andrew Weil, MD., where Patrick embarked on his fellowship of integrated medicine, and the pursuit of new and alternative approaches to medicine and healing that continue today through Patrick’s New York-based integrative medical practice.

Sobriety has become a cornerstone of Patrick’s own healing, not only for his physical healing, but also for his healing from childhood sexual trauma. That journey remains a source of strength for Patrick and helps him to be the best partner to his patients through an innate intuition and empathy to “get real and raw” in order to help us heal “wholly” from our deepest physical and emotional challenges.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today we’re joined by Kathy Steele. Kathy is a psychotherapist, consultant, trainer, and author.  In this podcast, we’ll be diving into skills and insights to help manage and heal the fragmented pieces of ourselves from our childhood abuse that often still sabotage us in adulthood.  Kathy’s award-winning book, Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists was Winner of the 2011 International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) Pierre Janet Writing Award.

Kathy is a Past President and Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), and has also served two terms on the Board of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS). Kathy served on the International Task Force that developed treatment guidelines for Dissociative Disorders, and on the Joint International Task Force that has developed treatment guidelines for Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. She has received a number of awards for her work, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from ISSTD, an Emory University Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Cornelia B. Wilbur Award for Outstanding Clinical Contributions from ISSTD.

Kathy is known for her humor, compassion, respect, and depth of knowledge as a clinician and teacher, and for her capacity to present complex issues in easily understood and clear ways. She is sought as a consultant and supervisor, and as an international lecturer on topics related to trauma, dissociation, attachment, and psychotherapy. She enjoys collaborating with colleagues around the world on clinical, educational, and research projects. Kathy has co-authored numerous book chapters, peer reviewed journal articles, and three books with her colleagues. 

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

John Callas is a Hollywood writer, director, and producer, and his work ranges from the worldwide release of feature films to motion picture trailers, national and international commercials, live action title sequences, and more.

John’s book, When The Rain Stops, tells John’s own story of a young man who rose from the ghetto and struggled against neglect and abuse to become a Hollywood director. Facing his experiences was too painful at first, so John started writing When The Rain Stops as a fictional novel, but then started over to tell his real life story. 

John has worked with actors including Mel Gibson, Walter Matthau, Jack Nicholson, Madonna, Eddie Murphy and Mel Brooks, and John's work can be seen on live action teasers for movies including Ransom, Dennis The Menace, Body Of Evidence, The Golden Child, Spaceballs, The Glass Menagerie, Cocoon II, Poltergeist III, Betrayed, My Girl, As Well As Title Sequences For The Two Jakes and A Few Good Men. 

Some of the awards John has received include THE NEW YORK CRITICS CHOICE, THE CLIO and BELDING, the prestigious BEST OF THE WEST, and an MTV AWARD.

John holds a Master Degree from Occidental College, and is a member of The Directors Guild Of America. He lives in Santa Monica, CA with his wife, Linda and has two sons, Stephan and Nicholas.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today, we’re joined by Deanna Hansen.

Deanna is the founder of Block Therapy and Fluid Isometrics and is also a certified athletic therapist.  For over 20 years, Deanna has helped thousands of people around the world heal from physical and emotional trauma through her programs, including her new 90-Day Trauma Relief program.

I only found out about this recently, I tried it, and it’s been mind-blowing for me – so I had to share it with you.

Block Therapy and Fluid Isometrics are approaches to softening and relieving the connective tissue of fascia throughout our bodies where pain and trauma have been stored—sometimes for decades. The fascial system connects the body from head to toe. In Block Therapy, we lie on a small therapeutically designed and crafted block of wood for a minimum of three minutes in various positions across the body. With gravity, body weight, and diagpramatic breathing, the block sinks deeply into the root of stuck tissue and trauma, releasing layers of restrictions that show up as physical and emotional health issues in our bodies and minds.

I’ve been blocking now for only about six weeks and it has been one of the most powerful and shifting practices I have ever felt to release the illness and tension and stress that I still feel in my physical and my mental being from my childhood of sexual abuse—and that so many of us still do.

That’s why I wanted to share this with you all and have Deanna as a guest, so you can decide if this feels right for you to try as another practice on your journey of healing and growth.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today I’m so excited to be joined by Staci Haines. Staci is a national leader in Somatics, the field of connecting mind, body, brain, and behavior to allow us to release deep patterns of stress, anxiety and trauma that are stuck in our bodies. 

Staci has been in the field of somatics and engaged in social change work for almost 30 years. Staci is the author of The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing and Social Justice which is based on her work to transform the impact of individual and social trauma, and strengthen the interdependence of personal and social change. Staci is also the author of Healing Sex: A Mind Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma – which is what we’ll be diving into in this podcast.

There’s so much in this book and as Staci writes, “Many survivors have a difficult relationship with their bodies. You may struggle with body hate, feeling that your body has betrayed you or that your body is an unsafe place to live. Having a body at all may be a problem for you.”  So today, we’re going to learn a lot and experience some powerful practices to shift our bodies into healing – to heal our sexual trauma from the past and to experience sexual healing in our lives today.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today, I’m joined by Dr. Dionne Bates. Dionne is a licensed professional counselor who holds a B.A. in sociology, an M.A. in counseling psychology, and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. 

Dr. Bates works with her clients to help them reach optimal mental health by 
teaching them to affirm themselves, affirm others, and live authentically. After almost 20 years in clinical practice, Dionne has observed that the root of much mental and emotional distress is our inability to integrate our “true” selves into various realms of our lives. 

Dionne recently published the Emotional Lifeline and Mapping Journalas a tool to help us connect with, and navigate through, our emotions; and is the author of Six Steps to an Emerging Authentic, Affirmed Self. Dionne created a self-healing model, The Self-SOULstice Self-Affirmation Model to help us all move through an empowered process of self-healing.

Dionne has been featured on several radio shows, and has participated in discussions on human sexuality and sexual health with first year Emory University medical students. Her research has included identity development, LGBTQI plus issues, and models of affirming self and others. Her writings have been featured in the Atlanta Tribune, Blavity.com, Your Tango, Dailyworth and numerous regional, national, and international newspapers and academic journals.

Dionne was an Educational Psychologist at Georgia Southern University’s (GSU) Counseling Center where she had responsibility for the students’ mental health and provided education and support to faculty and staff. Dionne also taught graduate studies, serving as adjunct professor in GSU’s College of Education and Alabama A&M University’s Department of Psychology and Counseling. 

Dr. Bates has provided consultation to many businesses and agencies, including the award winning BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective), where she served as Senior Mental Health Advisor from 2017-2022.

The owner of Self-SOULstice and based in Marietta, Georgia, Dionne provides a range of psychotherapeutic, supervision, and consultative services. 

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today, I’m joined by the very special, Merle Saferstein. Merle is an educator, speaker, and author. Since 1974, Merle has amassed a collection of 380 journals, 359 of which have been turned into Vol 1 of her book, Living and Leaving My Legacy. Through Merle’s journaling, we experience the power of journaling to help us each move through our lives—the highs, the lows, and everything in between, through trauma, marriage, parenting, grief, career, spirituality, and so much more. Among those highs and lows, Merle shares how she moved through the revelation that her daughter was sexually abused as a child by someone trusted by the family, and the healing and growth that she and her daughter continue to experience through that.

When our beautiful mutual friend Sheryl Sandberg tragically lost her husband, Dave Goldberg, the father of their two young children, Merle’s guidance helped Sheryl journal through a horrifically tragic time, and that journey ultimately led Sheryl to write her book, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, with Wharton professor, positive psychologist and best-selling author, Adam Grant.

Most of Merle’s career has been in the field of education, and for 26 years, she served as the director of educational outreach at the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center in South Florida where she worked closely with Holocaust survivors to perpetuate their legacies for this and future generations.

Merle has also created Living and Leaving Your Legacy®, a program that focuses on preserving and passing along the essence of one's life. And through classes, workshops, and lectures, Merle has guided thousands of people through journaling, sacred legacy work, and writing for wellness.

Merle lives in Miami, Florida with her husband of fifty-five years and has two children and two granddaughters.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org

Today, I’m thrilled to be joined by the spirited and energetic, Bernadette Pleasant! Bernadette is a fiery and sensual speaker, somatic healer, Founder of The Emotional Institute, Creator of Femme!, a mind-body wellness program, and creator of 400 Years, a somatic-based anti-racism program. She is known for channeling her personal journeys and radical empathy into transformative, immersive experiences that support and celebrate people of all genders, colors, ages and sizes. She has transformed the lives of thousands of people around the world, inspiring them to become more self-expressed and empowered as their own, as Bernadette says, “badass selves.”

With certifications in Emotions-Centered Coaching, Somatic Healing, Integrated Energy Therapy and studies in African, Tribal, and Free Dance, Bernadette promotes emotional freedom through movement and empowerment. She also facilitates deep dialogues on emotional healing, grief, and unlearning racism.

A woman of color, Bernadette comes from a long line of natural healers who have used touch and movement to help others find peace and wellness. Her classrooms, both online and in person, welcome participants and support all to experience comfort and pleasure in their own skin.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org