Revealing & Healing Sexual Abuse - with Dr. Jessica McCleese- All About Sex Series

Revealing & Healing Sexual Abuse – with Dr. Jessica McCleese <p>Here’s the truth: either you or someone you know has been victimized by sexual abuse. It’s a sad reality that most of us hate talking about. But if we don’t talk about it, the stigma and shame will continue its cycle in our hearts and relationships. Joining me on the podcast for this important and urgent conversation is my friend, Dr. Jessica McCleese, a psychologist and sex therapist. Jessica tells us her personal story of being sexually molested and abused and the havoc those experiences wreaked on her psyche. But she’s not alone. I, too, in a rare conversation, talk about my experience with sexual abuse and the damage it began to have on my marriage. But God.</p> <p> </p> <p>So many women and men silently struggle with identity issues, guilt, confusion, embarrassment, shame, anger, and an array of other emotions because of sexual abuse. And many still won’t talk about it. I want to do my part to help people begin the path of healing and freedom from sexual abuse. Statistics show that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men are sexually abused by the time they turn 18.<a>[1]</a> That’s a LOT of us!</p> <p> </p> <p>Naturally, as I was wrapping up the All About Sex series, I concluded this was a topic that could be off limits no longer. We need real, honest, and helpful conversations about sexual abuse that will help single and married people to overcome all its damaging effects.</p> <p> </p> A Survivor’s Story <p>A few years ago, my friend, Terri, shared a spoken word at a women’s conference at our church entitled Story. Terri, too, is a survivor. With her permission, I am sharing her spoken word with you. May you find comfort in reading it:</p> <p> </p> <p>She sits in distress</p> <p>concerned and under arrest</p> <p>She, sits in her pretty pink dress, afraid to tell her mom because she’d make a mess</p> <p>of things</p> <p>She’s six and he… he cornered her.</p> <p>She’s not even old enough to write legible, his decibels rang in her ear: “TOUCH IT