Get ready!  I’ve got a really special treat for you this week.  On Thursday (June 25) at 12:00pm (PST) you can participate in a FREE 90-minute webinar called “Living from the Heart, Not the Hurt!”  I’ve created it just for the survivors of abuse trauma. 

Here’s the thing.  It’s difficult for survivors of child sexual abuse to allow themselves to live from their hearts.  Yet you can’t maintain a healthy relationship with anyone until you learn this vital skill.

When you live from the “hurt,” arguments with friends, boyfriends, and spouses never seem to be resolved.  You always think THEY are the problem.  They need to change.  And they always think YOU are the problem.  They say you need to change.  It’s an endless hamster wheel.

Sound familiar?

The problem is your heart.  The people in your important relationships can’t feel it.  Your heart is closed.  Because of that, they don’t feel like you’re really listening to them.  And they’re right.  You’re not.  Those shameful feelings from the abuse control everything you say, think, and do.

Many of you have learned a lot on your healing journey, and life is definitely better than it used to be.  But something’s still not right.  It’s keeping you emotionally disconnected and isolated.  Yet you can’t seem to figure it out.  Ugh!

Does that sound like you?

If so, I’ve created this webinar for just for you!  In this webinar I’ll show you how to solve this frustrating problem.  Here’s what you’ll learn:

·      Why you disconnect from your heart during trauma

·      How to reconnect to your true self

·      How to begin a daily self-care regime

·      The key to self-love

·      A guided meditation to help you experience self-awareness

·      How to restore your heart

·      How to manage feeling overwhelmed

·      How to live trigger-free from the past

·      Q and A on healing from abuse trauma

·      And much, much more!

I know how you feel.  Your dream is to get unstuck once and for all, to connect freely in every relationship, to make peace with your past.  This webinar will show you exactly how to do that. 

But will it work for you?  Yes!  How do I know?  Because I’ve been using these principles for years with my coaching clients and in all my relationships.  In fact, my husband and I just celebrated our 20-year anniversary last year with a renewal ceremony on the beach in Kauai, Hawaii.  This never would have happened if I hadn’t applied these principles to my marriage.

You can do this, too!  Join me at 12:00pm (PST) on June 25th for this FREE informative webinar.  Here’s the link to the webinar conference room to log in on that day: 

http://www.instantpresenter.com/blattafram6

Then all you need to do is sit back, relax, listen, and ask questions.  I look forward to seeing you there!

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Were you sexually abused as a child?  Is your life stuck as an adult, and you can’t seem to move forward?  Svava Brooks is a child sexual abuse survivor, as well as a certified CSA instructor and an Abuse Survivor Coach.  She offers private coaching sessions by phone or skype for child sexual abuse survivors just like you.  For more information, email svava@educate4change.com or call 619-889-6366.  Let Svava help you move forward again on your healing journey!

Are you on Svava’s email list?  If you’d like to receive her empowering monthly newsletter and an email with a link to her weekly blog post, click here: http://www.educate4change.com/

 

A blog post by a very special guest!

One of the worst misconceptions of child sexual abuse stems from a line that we all tell ourselves about one issue or another: “It will never happen to me. It will never happen in my own family.” Many believe that since the issue of child sexual abuse isn’t talked about as much as political, religious, or international issues that it isn’t as prevalent. The truth is precisely the opposite. According to Darkness to Light, an organization dedicated to the prevention of child sexual abuse, 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will experience sexual abuse before they turn 18. That means in a kindergarten class of 20 children, at least four are likely to be sexually abused before they graduate from high school. (www.stopitnow.org)

If that seems scary to you, it gets worse. A majority of these events are occurring in our friend’s homes and even our own. As reported by Darkness to Light, 30 to 40% of children are abused by family members. And as many as 60% are abused by people the family trusts. Add all that up and you see that only about 10% of abusers are strangers. Do you have goose bumps yet?

So why isn’t this more common knowledge? The answer: It’s because lines we tell ourselves like the one stated above. “I’m too smart to let it happen to me or my family.” These are lines we tell ourselves about rape, about drunk driving, about drug use, and yes, even about child sexual abuse.

Child sexual abuse is not only closer to home than we think, it takes place in our homes, sometimes under our very noses.

Then how do we keep child sexual abuse out of our homes, out of our own families?

We, the world, needs to learn about prevention. It isn’t enough to stop what is currently going on, we have to prevent it from happening in the first place. And when it comes to child sexual abuse, many turn their heads and look the other way. Many people don’t know anything about child sexual abuse, especially young adults. Being a young adult myself, I can tell you that ignorance amongst people my age is scary. And it needs to change.

At this point, you may be thinking, who is this person to be telling me that I am not seeing reality or making bold claims that the world needs to change?

I have never been a victim of child sexual abuse. But I am the 20 year old daughter of someone who was. And through my mother’s healing, prevention work and being raised to be aware of this issue, I know more on the subject than most adults and parents do. Because of my mother, I can see the signs of abuse in the young adults I come in contact with, through sports, parties, and at my college. I look out for the signs in my own friends. I can spot a creepy man a mile away. I am very good at not getting myself into bad situations, especially with men in unfamiliar places. I once came in contact with the uncle of a friend who raised all of my red flags and when I approached my friend about it, I was told that I was paranoid. I get this a lot. Because it is such a hush-hush topic, and not many 20 year olds know about the issue as much as I do, I am often met with rolling eyes and responses about being too paranoid or too quick to judge. But it is exactly responses like this that are the reason so many get away with abusing others. In our society, especially with women, it is considered impolite to suggest that a person is creepy or to ask them to not be around our children. It is impolite for a woman to say that she doesn’t feel comfortable with a man and often is told by her “girlfriends” that she is crazy and being unreasonable (Yes, this happened to me as well.) But I think we can agree that being “impolite” is worth saving yourself or your children from abuse of any kind. No one should ever be shamed for standing up for themselves or for trusting their gut.

I am here to tell you, the reader, that knowledge of this issue, all the facts and statistics that I know, have helped me to live a more aware and safer life. I see the world for what it truly is. Life is beautiful and filled with love and happiness and good people. But I am also aware of the bad that comes with humanity and because of my mother, I know how to keep that bad out of my life and out of the lives of any future children I may have.

I hope that I persuaded you in some way, to look around you and maybe look inside your own family. Prevention is all about opening your eyes to the truth. Child sexual abuse can happen anywhere, to anyone. You know that cheesy Amazing Grace song, “I once was blind, but now I see?” It may be cliché, but it’s the truth. You can choose to be blind to the reality of this issue, or choose to open your eyes and see the truth. The choice is up to you.

By Elisa Brooks

Elisa Brooks is a 20 year old college student, currently getting her degree in English. When she is not editing or writing for her mother, Svava, she is playing soccer, reading and writing poetry, and watching movies with her family.

Want to learn more? Want to get educated on the subject? Check out webinars provided regularly here on this page for parents interested in learning more about prevention and how to keep their kids safe.