Bonus Episode: The Things Left Unsaid

Beyond Fear

Throughout the first season of Beyond Fear: The Sex Crimes Podcast, we have received dozens of questions and comments from listeners. The conversations we have had one-on-one with each other and those we have had with some of you who have reached out have affirmed our belief that the work we do and the way we accomplish it are both incredibly important.

We’ve learned over the years that bringing our full selves to the table is critical. It is with that lesson in mind that we bring you the bonus episode of season one. As we noted, we have received dozens of interesting and important questions from our dedicated listeners. We could not possibly answer all of these questions in a single episode and will use many of them as topics for our second season.

Instead, we decided to tackle two questions that survivors ask us all the time. We decided to answer them intimately and authentically – perhaps with an honesty and openness with which we have not always answered. The greatest gift we can give others is to be one hundred percent ourselves. We want anyone who has been harmed and those who have caused harm to fully understand the indelible impact that sexual harm can have. We also want listeners to understand that healing is not linear, that is is complicated and messy. It is layered. Healing is sometimes, as in the case for both of us, entangled in navigating both sexual trauma and mental illness.

The two questions we tackle in this deeply personal episode include:

1. How do I know I am “over it”?
2. How to I navigate medical doctors/procedures/appointments as a survivor?

In the episode we talk about two books that have been integral to our understanding of trauma. The first is called The Body Keeps the Score, by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk. This book helped us both to understand how trauma impacts us and changes us as a cellular level. The second book is called Trauma and Recovery, by Dr. Judith Herman. It was this live changing book, which was first published in 1992, that helped us both to fully recognize that we were not alone.

Later in the episode we talk about the importance of trauma informed medicine. We believe that trauma informed care is critical for survivors of all forms of trauma to receive the medical care they need.

Our friend Christine “Cissy” White, whose work can be found at http://www.healwritenow.com, talks about how it is not trauma informed if it isn’t informed by trauma survivors. Her work has significantly impacted how we think about medical care.

Finally, we discuss a potentially important and impactful intervention called pelvic floor physical therapy. This is not a very well known intervention, but many survivors who experience chronic pelvic pain, it can be life changing. You can learn more about pelvic floor physical therapy from thee following links:

Why Going to Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy Transformed My Life

Pelvic Physical Therapy: Another Potential Treatment Option

For a transcript of this episode click here.

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