For almost five years, I’ve been involved with facilitating support/recovery groups for adult women survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The program is faith-based and uses a Christ-centered curriculum. I first led a group at our church when we lived in Dallas, and now I’ve been facilitating groups at our church...
This week I’d planned to write about childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In beginning to research, what I found instead were several articles and research studies describing the connection between CSA and long-term physical health as an adult. So, while I still plan to investigate CSA...
I’ve spent a lot of time working through forgiveness issues over the last several years. And then last year I found a profound example of forgiveness in an unexpected place—The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son. Pat Conroy’s book came out in October 2013, but it...
Congratulations to Jan Wilson, winner of a beautiful hardcover copy of Jon Holsten’s The Swimsuit Lesson! Your book is on its way to you! Thank you to all who entered, and a special thank you to everyone who read Jon’s post and shared the message. I hope it led to...
by Jon Holsten, author of The Swimsuit Lesson (More about Jon here) He was the last person she ever suspected, but the evidence against her new husband was undeniable. The young mother of two little girls sobbed uncontrollably as her story unraveled. The man she thought was a loving husband...
Attention: Parents of Young Children! If you are the parent or grandparent of a young child, you won’t want to miss next week’s guest post by Jon Holsten, author of The Swimsuit Lesson. As a life-long child protection advocate, Jon Holsten is an internationally recognized speaker and children’s book author....
The wounds of childhood sexual abuse are deep. The hurt is complicated and complex. Even with first-hand experience, it’s often difficult to understand the far-reaching effects of abuse. It seems so much easier to live in denial—denial of any damage done and, therefore, denial of needed healing. That’s one option....
Last Friday, the NCAA settled with Penn State and removed the last of the sanctions it had imposed on the school in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal. Over the last few years, there had been argument and even lawsuits as to whether the NCAA overstepped its...
“The word ‘trust’ is the heart of faith….The word ‘faith’ conveys more an act of will, while the word ‘belief’ conveys an act of the mind or intellect, but trust is the language of the heart.” ~L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert In whom do you trust? Merriam-Webster defines trust...
I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. They’re just words. How can it be so hard to say them? Speaking the truth in those eight words is the essential, and oftentimes, first step toward healing. I’ve spent a lot of time in abuse recovery groups over the last several...
