Sexual Assault Survivor Stories

Childhood sexual abuse leaves wounds that often extend far beyond the abuse itself. It can shape a person's identity, relationships, sense of worth, and even their understanding of faith, trust, and safety. Yet, as difficult as the healing journey may be, recovery is possible. In Episode 197, Cherry Fargo shares her remarkable story of surviving years of childhood sexual abuse, emotional manipulat...

One of the most common misconceptions about child sexual abuse is the belief that children always know they're being abused. The reality is often far more complicated. In this episode, I sit down with Susan Bisaha, a licensed professional counselor, survivor of clergy sexual abuse, and author of And The Lotus Shall Rise: My Journey Through Clergy Sex Abuse. Susan shares the deeply personal story o...

Some episodes are worth repeating…this is one of them. Jason's story is one that quietly breaks your heart and then slowly helps rebuild it. On the outside, his childhood looked perfectly normal, even picturesque. But behind closed doors lived a painful reality of abuse, secrecy, and survival that no child should ever have to experience. In Secrets Beneath, Jason pulls back that veil and walks us...

When Cheryl Wright first appeared on Sexual Assault Survivor Stories in January of 2024, she shared her experiences with honesty, courage, and a willingness to help others feel less alone. Today, Cheryl returns for a short update conversation. We talk about what's changed during the past two years, what challenges she's faced, and where she finds herself today. As is often the case, healing has no...

For the first time in quite a while, I found myself without a guest interview ready to release. Between family visits, personal responsibilities, and the realities of life occasionally getting ahead of all of us, I simply ran out of runway this week. Rather than leave you with silence, I decided to sit down behind the microphone and spend a few minutes talking directly with you. As Sexual Assault...

This week's episode is a little different. There is no guest joining me behind the microphone tonight. Instead, I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on something I've been thinking about as Sexual Assault Survivor Stories approaches two hundred episodes. Over the past four years, I've had the extraordinary privilege of speaking with survivors, advocates, counselors, researchers, physicians, a...

Before we get started, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to The Network Studios in Culver City for making this week's episode recording possible. From the ease of scheduling to their outstanding facilities and podcast production expertise, the entire experience was exceptional. A special thank you goes to studio owner Kenyon, whose generosity, kindness, hospitality, and willingness to help mad...

Dr. Lori from Still Whole Wellness returns to the show for a deeply thoughtful conversation about healing, spirituality, trauma, boundaries, self-worth, and the daily work of becoming whole again after sexual trauma. This isn't surface-level self-help language. It's an honest discussion about what healing requires when trauma has impacted the way you think, speak to yourself, trust yourself, and m...

For this episode, I brought together three people who have become powerful voices in the fight against sexual violence: Tracy DeTomasi, CEO of Callisto, Chris McGee, and Derrick Hurley. What started for Chris and Derrick as deeply personal journeys after the sexual assaults of their daughters has evolved into full-scale advocacy work focused on changing laws, challenging rape culture, supporting s...

Martha Gagnon joins me for a deeply important and, at times, difficult conversation about coercion, control, and what she ultimately came to understand as rape within an intimate relationship. Her story doesn't follow the narrative many people expect—and that's exactly why it matters. In this survival story, Martha's relationship with this particular person began as what appeared to be healthy, em...

Sophie was 14 when she entered a relationship that, at first, felt familiar and exciting. Over time, that relationship shifted into something she couldn't fully understand in the moment. What began as connection turned into pressure, confusion, and a growing sense that she was responsible for someone else's emotions, safety, and survival. This episode traces how that shift happened. Not through a...

Joseph Born grew up surrounded by the raw, untamed beauty of Alaska—a childhood filled with exploration, curiosity, and the kind of freedom that most people would associate with innocence. But beneath that backdrop was something far different. In this episode, Joseph shares the part of his story that rarely gets talked about with the clarity it deserves: child-on-child sexual abuse, and the lastin...

This week's episode takes us into a part of the healing conversation that doesn't get talked about nearly enough. I sit down with Sara Perry, founder of Haven Space (https://havenspacecoaching.com/) in Houston, Texas, to explore what it means to approach trauma and intimacy through the body—not just the mind. Sara is a somatic sex educator and sexological bodyworker who works with individuals and...

This week, Emily joins the show to share a story that has lived quietly beneath the surface while life continued to move forward around it. As a young woman navigating the early stages of adulthood, she opens up about what it means to carry the impact of sexual assault while still showing up in the world in ways that appear "normal" to everyone else. This conversation explores the contrast between...

Before I get into these notes, I want to pass along this from this week's guest, Darlene Lekowski. She mentioned during our conversation that her audiobook, Shattering Silence, is dropping to just ninety-nine cents this coming Thursday, April 2nd, as her release-day promo. Go to amazon.com and look-up her book title, again—shattering silence, and you'll find the promotional deal. This is a limited...

Cassie Nicholas returns to the podcast with a story that is as urgent as it is revealing. After everything she has already survived, Cassie found herself in a situation that looked—on the surface—like support and stability. People she trusted offered help, a way to get back on her feet, a path forward. But what she began to recognize, piece by piece, was something far more dangerous: those same in...

In this powerful interview, MJ shares her journey through sexual assault, dissociation, and healing. We explore trauma's impact on the body and mind, the importance of support systems, and pathways to recovery. Discover the profound insights from MJ, a university student and trauma advocate, as she shares her story of resilience and healing after sexual assault. Trauma can alter the course of our...

This week, I am again featuring as my guest, Norma Peterson, Executive Director of Document the Abuse, to talk about the lasting impact of the Stacy Peterson case and the broader importance of documenting abuse when systems fail survivors. Our conversation explores how power, media narratives, and institutional silence can obscure truth—and why preserving survivor stories is not only important, bu...

Let me introduce you to this week's guest, Dr. Asher. I wanted her here on the show because she is someone whose work sits at the intersection of lived experience, rigorous research, and embodied understanding of trauma. Dr. Asher is a survivor, a scholar, and a systems-level educator who has spent more than two decades studying what sexual trauma actually does to the brain and nervous system—and...

This week I sit down with Norma Peterson, Executive Director of Document the Abuse, to talk about the lasting impact of the Stacy Peterson case and the broader importance of documenting abuse when systems fail survivors. Our conversation explores how power, media narratives, and institutional silence can obscure truth—and why preserving survivor stories is not only important, but necessary. As Exe...

In this episode of Sexual Assault Survivor Stories, I sit down with Daniel—a listener who became a storyteller. Like many of the voices you hear on this podcast, Daniel didn't come to the microphone because he was certain or fully healed. He came because something in these conversations resonated deeply enough that staying silent no longer felt like the right option. What follows is a powerful, ho...

In this episode of Sexual Assault Survivor Stories, I sit down with Pamela France, author of the memoir Life Soup. Pamela shares her lived experience of childhood sexual abuse and the lifelong impact of trauma, alongside a deeply personal account of healing grounded in her Christian faith. Life Soup is not written to shock or sensationalize—it's written as testimony, reflection, and invitation for...

There are some episodes of this show that don't revolve around a single survivor story, but they still land just as hard—because they force us to look at ourselves. This is one of those conversations. It's not about recounting trauma; it's about what allows harm to keep happening in everyday spaces, and what it actually takes to interrupt that. This episode asks questions most people would rather...

There's a distinctive aspect to this show that makes it different from most podcasts in this genre, and I consider it a privilege and honor to recognize those of you who make it that way. Sexual Assault Survivor Stories is not built around celebrity guests, polished talking points, or rehearsed narratives. It exists because of something far more rare and far more meaningful—trust. Again and again,...

Beth is a survivor who reached out to me after realizing that memories she once believed were long buried were anything but inconsequential. As she explains, those memories began resurfacing as she engaged in EMDR—Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing—with her therapist, opening the door to a deeper understanding of what she had endured. (It's amazing what a good sexual assault/rape therapist...