Breaking Silence

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To kickoff season 3, we sit down with Morgan from Highland Park Brewery (HPB) and walk through what is like to do one of our trainings, the impacts it has had and continues to  have with staff, and how our work together is helping disrupt some of the previous standards within the beer industry.

We started our work in the beer space in 2020 as women within the industry started to come forward to share their stories of abuse, harassment and assault. It was a catalyst for us to become a more active part of creating safer spaces for everyone in the industry. Over the years, our relationship with breweries like HPB has helped start hard conversations about the realities of these spaces and how everyone can be a part of the change.

If you are interested in our training, or learning more please visit breakingsilence.org/programming

 

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Dave Pelzer is a New York Times best selling author, a survivor, and someone that has helped countless people through the power of his story. Alli and Dave talk through the process of writing his new book Return to the River,  how he has moved through life holding space for his abuse and for his adult self to heal, and what he sees now, 50 years after his rescue. 

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You can hear the "From Heart To Heard" talk on our website! We are so excited to have Dave Pelzer here next week as we continue our journey through this season. Please share with us your why and reactions to our video .

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This week, we talk with Karen about her story of surviving abuse at the hands of her stepfather. The idea of that to be loved means to experience abuse was a common story told to her not only by her abusive stepfather but by religious leaders.  Karen has had to reframe her story to become one about love for herself, how the abuse is not her shame to carry and  the work she is doing in  finding self love and grace. 

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In this episode we are joined by Amanda as she talks us through her stories of survival, why she has kept her stories silent  and how she ended up in litigation against a powerful ride share company. This episode is a wonderful example of how we can still be in our pain and going through it and know that when we talk to safe people they will believe and see us, not shame and silence us.  There is no perfection or finished when it comes to processing an assault, so sometimes we just have to start talking and know that our community will help carry the weight of what happened with us.

You are not alone and if you need help or want to talk to someone please reach out to the National Sexual Assault Hotline,  Available 24 hours: 1-800-656-4673

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It is never easy to find your voice or feelings when a story feels outside of you. We talk with Will, a secondary survivor who is on a journey of understanding the impact that abuse has had on his mother's life and their relationship.  As he feels his own pain through knowing what she want through, he is finding new ways to connect with her, empower her and help her break her silence even further. The biggest thing we can do as secondary survivors is to create the space for ourselves and the survivor to talk through the experience if and when they are ready.

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This week we chat with Lori Poland, Executive Director of EndCAN and author of I Live Here: learning to heal through embracing your own story

When Lori was kidnapped at the age of 3, her world and the world of others turned upside down. Her journey has been one of finding her voice in a tragedy that was mostly told to her and trying to understand what it means to have "joint custody" of your story. We don't always get to choose what our story means to others or even to ourselves, and sometimes the process of healing means feeling the mess and the wonder simultaneously.

If you would like to learn more about the work EndCAN does please go to their website 

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Author Lynn Forney  shares with us her journey of survival and healing which she details in her book: Choosing Survival: How I Endured a Brutal Attack and a Lifetime of Trauma through the Power of Action, Choice, and Self Expression.

We move through the power of art and imagination as a way  to make friends with our past, how we can show kindness to our inner child and how a little bit of silly can go a long way in the healing journey.

Lynn is a true light in this world and we hope you will continue to support her work and engage in the spaces she so thoughtfully creates. You can purchase her book using this LINK. 

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Welcome Back Breakers! 

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Alli sits down with Samantha,  as she guides us through what happened one night at the hands of her boss, a man many considered to be a brilliant chef. The need to believe in his mastery over his actions and treatment of people leads to Samantha being violently attacked in the place they worked.  She not only guides us through that moment but through the very real consequences of giving people sympathy over empathy and harm that comes from "not wanting to get involved."

Throughout the episode she walks us through her journey of finding containers of safety, of trusting people even when you cannot trust yourself and how forgiveness does not happen in a silo. 

Please note that Samantha does share in detail the events around her attack which may be triggering and unsafe for some people to listen to. Take your time or pass on this episode if it will be more harmful than helpful.