Together We Heal is for any who suffer from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse. We provide a safe forum for survivors of abuse to share, learn and heal. We work to expose sexual predators and their methods of getting into our lives.
My wife Linda and I had the privilege of talking with Rachel Grant, author and Beyond Surviving extraordinaire! In this episode Rachel explains the “3 Stages of Recovery from Childhood Sexual Abuse”. This is a can’t miss show! Please set aside some time to listen, learn and gain insight on how to truly begin to heal!
Thank you Rachel for all you do to help survivors and for being a tireless advocate and friend!
And please go to Rachel’s site – http://rachelgrantcoaching.com – for helpful information on how she can help you move further along in the healing process!
In 2006 David took the first step in a long and painful journey back from the abyss of addiction and self-destruction. He promised his dying father that he would get clean. And he did. But as he cleaned his body and soul, he began to confront the sexual abuse that his addiction had for so long obscured — abuse perpetrated by a church youth minister when David was 12 to 15 years old.
Those three years of abuse destroyed the foundation of love and faith that had been built by his family. For 25 years, David kept the abuse secret and lost himself in a fog of drugs and alcohol. He was by turns destitute, at times incarcerated.
The promise to his dying father was the catalyst. And the bedrock of his mother’s love and devotion was the foundation on which David rebuilt his life. Therapy, 12-step meetings, and soul-deep determination were the bricks and mortar.
David founded Together We Heal to provide fellow survivors and their families, guidance through the trauma of childhood sexual abuse. In 2015 he was asked to become a part of the Child Safeguarding Initiative team with GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) to empower the Christian community through education and training to recognize, prevent, and respond to child abuse.
David represents Together We Heal & GRACE across the country as a public speaker and instructor; teaching churches, schools, and families how to talk with their kids about sexual abuse, how to better identify predatory behavior, and how to properly respond to those harmed.
"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.” - Dr. Seuss
8 thoughts on “3 Stages of Recovery from Childhood Sexual Abuse”
Rachel, there’s some helpful stuff here and thank you to the site for publishing this. However, at 24 mins you talk about abuse not being a life sentence. Please know that for many people it is. It is important not to generalise, as every person’s experiences and situation are different. It is important to acknowledge that abuse can be deeply damaging and life changing for many. Statements such as “abuse is not a life sentence”, “it can be overcome” etc. are not only inaccurate, but they fail to do justice to the experiences of those many survivors who battle with the after-effects for life. You could cause further trauma to people with such statements.
Hi Elena. Thank you for sharing your perspective and opinion. While I respect it, I do see it differently. I believe that we don’t have to spend our lives dealing with the abuse, but that we can instead get complete about the past and live powerfully having the best skills and tools for navigating the bumps in the road. I realize everyone’s journey is different and that some journeys are longer than others. I do hope to change the philosophy about how we heal from sexual abuse and I believe this long standing perspective is a part of that. Kinda like convincing the world was round back in the day when everyone had been told for years and years that it was flat. It’s a paradigm shift and I grant you a challenging one. Know that I come from the place of offering people freedom and new hope as opposed to judgment or dismissing the impact.
I just listened to your program and found it very interesting and informational. I wish I had listened to it live because it left me with some questions. You have definitely given me a lot of food for thought. Kudos!
Another support group that I would recommend for victims of childhood sexual abuse is Celebrate Recovery. Here’s the link to their website: http://www.celebraterecovery.com/
I genuinely appreciate the recommendation and the work you’re doing but due to so many of our members being sexually abused by clergy of many faiths, we are not in a position to publicly endorse celebrate recovery.com – please know it’s not because we are anti-religion, to the contrary, I myself am a believer, but we as an organization must do all we can to best serve the needs of the survivors who come to us for help. Part of this is only guiding them to Christian-based counseling when they ask us. We will keep celebrate recovery in our list of faith-based groups for those who request.
Together We Heal 
August 23, 2014 at 12:35 pm
Thank you David and Linda — had a great time!
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August 24, 2014 at 11:39 am
Rachel, there’s some helpful stuff here and thank you to the site for publishing this. However, at 24 mins you talk about abuse not being a life sentence. Please know that for many people it is. It is important not to generalise, as every person’s experiences and situation are different. It is important to acknowledge that abuse can be deeply damaging and life changing for many. Statements such as “abuse is not a life sentence”, “it can be overcome” etc. are not only inaccurate, but they fail to do justice to the experiences of those many survivors who battle with the after-effects for life. You could cause further trauma to people with such statements.
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August 24, 2014 at 4:06 pm
Hi Elena. Thank you for sharing your perspective and opinion. While I respect it, I do see it differently. I believe that we don’t have to spend our lives dealing with the abuse, but that we can instead get complete about the past and live powerfully having the best skills and tools for navigating the bumps in the road. I realize everyone’s journey is different and that some journeys are longer than others. I do hope to change the philosophy about how we heal from sexual abuse and I believe this long standing perspective is a part of that. Kinda like convincing the world was round back in the day when everyone had been told for years and years that it was flat. It’s a paradigm shift and I grant you a challenging one. Know that I come from the place of offering people freedom and new hope as opposed to judgment or dismissing the impact.
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August 26, 2014 at 9:16 pm
I just listened to your program and found it very interesting and informational. I wish I had listened to it live because it left me with some questions. You have definitely given me a lot of food for thought. Kudos!
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August 26, 2014 at 9:18 pm
Hi Toni, please feel free to email or call with any questions you have – dpittman@together-we-heal.org – 754-234-7975
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August 26, 2014 at 10:01 pm
Same here Toni! coach@rachelgrantcoaching.com or 415-513-0700!
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August 27, 2014 at 9:43 pm
Another support group that I would recommend for victims of childhood sexual abuse is Celebrate Recovery. Here’s the link to their website: http://www.celebraterecovery.com/
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September 21, 2014 at 2:39 pm
I genuinely appreciate the recommendation and the work you’re doing but due to so many of our members being sexually abused by clergy of many faiths, we are not in a position to publicly endorse celebrate recovery.com – please know it’s not because we are anti-religion, to the contrary, I myself am a believer, but we as an organization must do all we can to best serve the needs of the survivors who come to us for help. Part of this is only guiding them to Christian-based counseling when they ask us. We will keep celebrate recovery in our list of faith-based groups for those who request.
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