CSA Survivors Speak

Episode 8: Jenny

Jenny Stith is the executive director of WINGS, a Colorado non-profit that provides services and resources to adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. In this episode, she shares her perspective on the systemic conditions that enable childhood sexual abuse to persist, the need for more resources to support survivors as victims of crimes, and her understanding that healing from childhood sexual abuse is key to addressing numerous social and environmental issues.

Episode 7: Will

Will Addis describes the intense impacts of childhood sexual abuse that caused him to pump the breaks on his career and reprioritize his life. By being brave and vulnerable, he was able to open up about his experience, and find resources and allies to support his healing journey. In this episode, Will shares his path from fear, shame and suicidailty to a healthy life today balancing body care, connection, enjoyment and achievement.

Episode 6: Amanda

Amanda Starr is a psychologist in California. In this episode, she explains how sensory motor therapy can help us address trauma and attachment wounds, rumbles with the term "healing," describes her experience moving home after decades away, and shares her hopes of creating an equine therapy program. Amanda also talks about how allies can listen to and support survivors and invites all to consider donating to the Loveland Foundation, which provides financial assistance to Black women and girls s...

Episode 5: Eric

As an attorney, Eric MacLeish has represented hundreds of childhood sexual abuse survivors in claims against the Catholic church and numerous prestigious private boarding schools. In this episode, he shares his empathy for the detrimental impacts of childhood sexual abuse based on his own experience as a survivor and describes the value of caring friends and trauma-informed therapy. Eric discusses the paradox of survivors’ varied resilience and shares his legal expertise, reflecting on the chall...

Episode 4: Philip

Philip Armour is a father, editor and freelance writer in Colorado. In this episode, he shares how his childhood sexual abuse impacted his behavior in adolescence, and how yoga and parenting have help him to find self-forgiveness and healing.

Episode 3: Cheyenne

Meet Cheyenne Montgomery, a mother and teacher. In this episode, she describes how two high school teachers at Choate Rosemary Hall took advantage of her vulnerability as a student. She shares how she struggled for meaning in college, found her way as a parent and then, as a high school teacher herself, chose to go public with her story of sexual abuse in the Boston Globe in 2017. Today, Cheyenne reflects on teachers' responsibilities to respect students' boundaries and our need as a culture to ...

Episode 2: Janie

Meet Janie Contreras Johnson, an artist in Colorado. In this episode, she shares about how childhood sexual abuse forced her to choose between the truth of her experience and her family of origin, the particular challenges of survivorship in the Latinx community, and how she has found recovery through therapy, support, creativity and her family of choice.

Episode 1: Morgan

Morgan Apostle is a social worker in New York who brings her first hand experience as a survivor to her work. In this episode, she shares how her trauma as a high school student impacted her sense of self, her education, her relationships and her career choice, and how finding friends with the capacity to hear and hold what happened to her has helped her to heal.

CSA Survivors Speak (Trailer)