Thank you for tuning in to Season 3 of Support For Survivors. We will be taking a short break to gear up for Season 4. See you in a few weeks.

Our next Survivor Story features Melonie. She talks about her experience growing up in a close-knit church community that she refers to as a cult. Melonie talks about her religious upbringing and a lack of discussion about sex left her vulnerable to being sexually abused by her father when she was a child. Melonie describes how religion, shame, and the trauma of sexual abuse impacted her personal journey to healing and offers advice for other survivors.

Guest- Melonie

About Melonie:

Melonie is an adult survivor of child sexual abuse who has a passion for helping others break through shame in order to live a life more fulfilled. As a child and family psychotherapist, she helps families create meaning out of their most difficult experiences and find a path to healing. In her free time, she co-hosts a podcast with her sister - Sisters Unashamed. They discuss all topics "shameful" and "taboo" with little to no shame. 

Melonie’s social media:

Podcast: Sisters Unashamed

Instagram: @SistersUnashamed

Facebook: SistersUnashamed

TikTok: @SistersUnashamed

Interview with Aarefah, a sexual abuse survivor

We are grateful for our listeners. So many survivors have tuned in, listened to our show, and have sent messages asking to come on and share their stories. We are honored to bring you another interview in our popular Survivor Series. Aarefah is a sexual assault survivor and human rights advocate. She was assaulted by a fellow college student who she worked with at her university’s math tutoring service. Aarefah shares her experience as she reported the assault and pursued justice through the legal system. She also provides advice for other survivors who are navigating their own path to healing.

Guest- Aarefah

About Aarefah

Aarefah is a human rights advocate who has served as a keynote speaker on several college campuses including UC Berkeley, Diablo Valley College, Diablo Valley Peace and Justice Center, San Francisco State University, Pasadena City College, Wayne State University, University of Michigan and UC Irvine. You can find more information about Aarefah’s quest for justice here. 

Our Survivor Series continues with Rabbi Avremi Zippel of Salt Lake City, Utah. Rabbi Zippel is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and an outspoken advocate for children and legislative reform. He shares his story of abuse at the hands of his family’s babysitter and how he struggled for years to come to terms with the trauma that it caused. He also discusses his experience through the legal system as he sought justice from his abuser. Rabbi Zippel talks about fear, shame, religion and the challenge of navigating the emotional fallout that accompanies the journey that sexual abuse survivors go through. 

Guest: Rabbi Avremi Zippel

About Rabbi Zippel

Rabbi Avremi Zippel lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife and family. He is the Program Director ot Chabad Lubavitch of Utah. He and his wife founded Young Jewish Professionals Utah in 2016, which has since grown to become the most prominent community of its kind across Utah. The organizations provides networking, spiritual and humanitarian offerings to young men and women in their 20s and 30s. In 2021, Rabbi Zippel was nominated to serve a four-year term on the Utah Council on Victims of Crime, a committee put in place by Utah’s legislature. 

Social Media:

Twitter: @UtahRabbi

Instagram: @UtahRabbi

Interview with Joelle, a sexual abuse survivor

Our next Survivor Story interview features Joelle, who discusses school sexual abuse. Joelle talks about being groomed and sexually abused by her high school choir teacher. She shares her experience of working through the trauma and getting to a point in her healing journey where she advocates for other survivors.

Guest- Joelle Casteix

About Joelle

Joelle is an author, journalist and speaker. She is a founding member of the Zero Abuse Project and has written several books on the topic of child sexual abuse. She was also a featured Ted Talk speaker. Links to her materials are below.

Watch Joelle’s Ted Talk: The Power of Responsibility

Joelle’s Books: The Power of Responsibility

                          The Well-Armored Child: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Sexual Abuse

The Compassionate Response: How to help and empower the adult victim of child sexual abuse

Scram: A Parent’s Quick-Start Guide to Preventing, Identifying, and Ending Bullying

Joelle on social media: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Our Survivor Series continues with Kalpashree, who talks about her survivor journey and how working with a career coach led her to engage with a therapist to help her heal from sexual trauma. Kalpa talks about the difficulty of dealing with the trauma of sexual abuse by a family member and how she ultimately opened a dialogue and began her healing. 

About Kalpa

Kalpa Gupta is an advisor, consultant & coach. As the CEO of Knekxt Group (a consulting company) and as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Kalpa now helps her clients build trust, mitigate risk, and grow in profitability and equitability, while also creating internal awareness for the high achievers and working parents who, like her, have used their achievements and responsibilities to deflect from dealing with trauma.

Connect with Kalpa:

LinkedIn profile & newsletter: Kalpashree Gupta https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalpashreegupta/

Website: https://knekxt.com/

TikTok: @knekxt.com

Interview with CohenMalad, LLP managing partner Irwin Levin and personal injury practice chair Greg Laker.

Do you ever wonder what drives people to take on difficult challenges? Like why would an attorney choose to dedicate a significant amount of their legal practice to representing sexual abuse victims in civil court when other types of cases aren’t as heavy on the heart and mind?

In this episode, managing partner Irwin Levin and personal injury practice chair Greg Laker to talk about what influenced them to build a sexual abuse litigation practice at the firm. They share heartfelt stories of how they made a difference in their clients’ lives and suggestions for sexual abuse survivors to consider when looking for legal representation.  

Guests- Irwin Levin, CohenMalad, LLP managing partner

Greg Laker, CohenMalad, LLP partner and personal injury practice chair

Interview with Mike McCarty of Safe Hiring Solutions

Mike McCarty founder of Safe Hiring Solutions talks about the need for in-depth, comprehensive background screening of employment candidates and volunteers. Mike talks about how his experience in law enforcement and entrepreneurial spirit led him to create Safe Hiring Solutions to help schools, non-profits, businesses, faith-based organizations and churches conduct thorough background checks on potential employees and volunteers. Mike and Shaunestte also talk about the upcoming Regional Church Safety Summit: Creating a Culture of Abuse Prevention scheduled for September 22, 2022.

About Mike

Mike McCarty is the founder and CEO of Safe Hiring Solutions. His company consults with thousands of schools, businesses, non-profits, faith-based organizations and churches across the United States to develop violence prevention programs, mitigate risk of violence and prepare them to react in the event of violence.

Mike has over 25 years of violence prevention experience and served the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department as a detective of violent crimes. He serves as a board member for the Domestic Violence Network of Indianapolis and the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. 

Social Media

Twitter @MikeMccartySHS

Facebook @SafeHiring Solutions, LLC

The Safety Zone Podcast, a 360 degree approach to security

Interview with Beth White, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking

Beth White, the President and CEO of ICESAHT, talks about the steps her organization is taking across the state of Indiana to help sexual assault and human trafficking victims. Beth shares how her background in public service prepared her to lead ICESAHT in building strong partnerships with organizations that provide direct services to victims and providing prevention education across Indiana. Beth also talks about House Enrolled Act 1079 that clarifies what consent means when it comes to allegations of rape and how this can help victims seeking justice.   

Website: ICESAHT

Instagram: @ICESAHT

Facebook: @ICESAHT

Guest- Beth White, ICESAHT President and CEO

Our next Survivor Series interview is with Amy. Amy talks about her survivor journey which includes being sexually abused as a child and later in life as an adult. While seeking therapy to heal from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse, Amy was sexually abused by her therapist. She wrote a book detailing her experience about being re-traumatized and the challenges that all survivors go through in navigating the emotions of coming forward to report abuse. She hopes that people will find her book helpful as they progress through their own survivor journeys. 

Guest- Amy Nordhues

About Amy

Amy is a passionate Christ-follower and expert on the healing God provides. She has a BA in psychology with minors in sociology and criminology. Her devotions have been published in The Secret Place (Judson Press) devotional series. Her essay, Give Me a Sign, won 2nd place at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference Foundation Awards. Her memoir, Prayed Upon, won the Inspire Christian Writers’ “Great Openings” contest for non-fiction. She is a married mother of three and enjoys spending time with family, writing, reading, photography and all things comedy.

Amy on Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok

Book

Prayed Upon: Breaking Free from Therapist Abuse