It was only two weeks ago that I had Anne Winslow on this show to talk about her new role as Co-Executive Director of the Sexual Assault Advocacy Network, SAAN, an online community of advocates, victims, and survivors of rape and sexual assault. During our discussion, Anne mentioned that the former Executive Director of SAAN was Dr. Lori Pitts, who is now Anne’s life coach and healing guide, and someone about whom Anne couldn’t say enough good things. (Dr. Lori is the founder and Executive Director of .) After our recording session, before Anne could even tell me that I should consider having Dr. Lori on my show, I had already decided that I would extend an invitation to her requesting that she consider being a guest. But before I could get that email sent, I received an email from Dr. Lori telling me how much she enjoyed listening to Anne’s two SASS episodes, and that she, too, had experienced sexual assault and was willing to share her story on my show. It was a done deal. We talked that same week in a brief “get-to-know-you” conversation and set the date for the show recording. I hope you get the same feeling of assurance, calm, and in-depth sense of direction for your healing as I did from just this one-hour visit with Dr. Lori. This is an incredible episode. Part of Dr. Lori’s fascinating story of being sexually assaulted at age five, is the fact that her perpetrator, a family member, was arrested for that crime, and served 18 years in prison. Upon his release, one of the conditions of his parole was a no-contact provision with Lori…but, as you might have guessed, he violated that condition shortly after his release. Lori was terrified. She immediately reached out to her mother asking for help in responding to this unwanted contact. Her mother, very wisely, told Lori that when she was a little girl there was nothing that she could do to help herself from being victimized by this offender. But now, she wasn’t a little girl any longer, and that she needed to do what she should do to help herself. I’ll let you listen to the episode to find out what happened, but Dr. Lori said it was life changing. That is just one of the incredible stories that Dr. Lori shared with me in this episode. As I reflect on our discussion, I am more and more convinced that this is one of my most powerful episodes, and that knowing Dr. Lori is going to be one of the more powerful friendships I’ll have in my life. I trust that you’ll have that same feeling…just knowing that she’s there for you to reach out should be comforting and restorative. Maybe you’ll even end up as one of her clients! After you’ve listened to this episode, please do me the favor of giving this show a 5-star rating and, if you’re inclined to do so, leave me a favorable comment about the show. Another favor I’d be very appreciative of would be for you to share this episode, or any of my 81 other episodes, with everyone you can think of. Anyone can benefit from this podcast…you don’t have to be a rape or sexual assault victim or survivor to gain knowledge and possibly a whole new view of what rape and sexual assault really is, and the offender dynamics and victim/survivor impacts, and how the rape culture in our society can be impacted even by you. It is as simple as taking the initiative to Start By Believing. Because we all know someone whose life has been impacted by rape or sexual assault. Thank you for tuning in. Here are some links and information I would appreciate you looking at and taking an interest in: