When I was six years old, my mother took to her bed. I don’t know how long she stayed there, because time is elastic to a child, but my best guess is several months. My family was living in the tiny western town of McDermitt, … Continue readingMornings at the White Horse Inn: A Story of Parentification
Opioid Addiction: Advice to Parents Readers, I have a guest blogger today, a woman who was once addicted to opioids but gave them up for good seven years ago. We were discussing the current opioid crisis when I asked what she would say to the … Continue readingOpioid Addiction: Advice to Parents
Introduction When the #MeToo Movement took off in October of 2017, one group of men immediately saw themselves in the stories women told. Whether personally guilty of sexual harassment or not, they recognized the underlying dynamic by which a human being reduces another human being … Continue readingMen Talk about Sex Addiction, Recovery, and the #MeToo Movement
An important film is soon to premiere in Salt Lake City. Titled No Crime in Sin, it tells the story of Kristy Johnson and her sisters, abused from an early age by their father, who was protected by the Mormon Church. I wrote about Kristy … Continue readingFilm Premiere and Panel Discussion Coming
Best-selling author, TED-talker, Instagram star, and celebrity pal Brené Brown has a brand new special on Netflix. Titled The Call to Courage, it’s a 75-minute talk at UCLA’s Royce Hall, though the talk seems shorter because Brown is so engaging, a fine storyteller whose self-deprecating … Continue readingBrené Brown’s “The Call to Courage”: Notes for Survivors
What prompts an adult to molest a child? Whether we’re survivors of sexual abuse ourselves, involved with survivors, or simply reeling from ongoing revelations about the Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, or the Jehovah’s Witnesses, most of us eventually wonder about the perpetrators. Who … Continue readingThe Challenge of Understanding Child Sexual Abuse
Ten days ago, the news broke that fifty people were being indicted in a scam to buy admission to colleges such as Yale, Stanford, and the University of Southern California. As commentators hashed over the scam, which involved bribing coaches, cheating on standardized tests, and … Continue readingBehind the Snowplow
When people read Iron Legacy and take the time to share their opinions with me and other readers, I feel a gratitude that is hard to describe (and, as many know, I am rarely at a loss for words). I’m thrilled to have strong reviews … Continue readingProfessional Reviews of Iron Legacy!
Here’s an irony for you: neglect is neglected. In discussions of childhood maltreatment, neglect hovers in the background, included categorically (“abuse and neglect”) but rarely the main focus despite being more prevalent than abuse and just as damaging.[1] The reasons aren’t hard to spot. First, … Continue readingThe Hollower: Childhood Emotional Neglect and Its Effects
Almost twenty years ago, the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study demonstrated conclusively that childhood trauma was widespread and implicated in a broad range of adult problems, from addiction to absenteeism to cancer. Neglected since Freud dismissed memories of childhood sexual abuse as fantasies, research into … Continue readingAnnouncing the publication of Iron Legacy: Childhood Trauma and Adult Transformation!