Manifesto of Pride
I have taught people, every day, to affirm their own worth, to see themselves as worthy and sacred. I have taught people every day that being proud of themselves is not arrogance, which has been a hard lesson for many because they fear they have no right to exclaim their own virtue. I think I can truthfully say that every single one of you has received words and gestures of care, respect, and faith from me to you, because all of you deserve it so much. I do not want anyone to consider me essential to their healing, or to hitch themselves to me (or any one person, therapist, program, book, or method). It makes me so proud to see each of you becoming independent and thoughtful people, and sharing that process with me.
To take my own advice I want to do something I rarely do: I want to remind myself of my own worth and success. I ask all of you to do this, so it's acceptable that tonight I do it too, 5 minutes to midnight of August 10. Here is where I've come in a year.
Next week I am training the Choctaw tribe's nurses, police, victim's advocates, and social services workers how to form a Sexual Assault Response Team, so that tribal members who are raped will receive coordinated care.
I helped a rape crisis program in one Oklahoma town meet with a hospital's Board of Directors member to convince the hospital to accept a sexual assault forensic care program.
I trained fifty rape advocates on the philosophy of victim care.
I trained fifty people of various professions on the philosophy of the Spiritual Healing Retreat.
The second Spiritual Healing Retreat grew by seven more women this year.
I trained 9 sexual assault nurse examiners on the topic of "sexual assault 101."
I've joined a small group of volunteers to help organize a "Phoenix Festival," aka, "Art for Strength" show, to bring artists and musicians together to raise funds for rape crisis services.
I helped organize a summit of 50 professionals in the field of rape victim services to spend two days developing a strategic plan to improve those services in Oklahoma. Of the primary goals set by the summit were inclusion of culture/spirituality in rape recovery, organization of non-clinical SOCIAL support groups for victims, and use of technology for outreach and support for victims--a total vindication of things regarded as contraband just a year ago.
I met with ForeverHope for the first time in almost two years this past week, and was told that in all her counseling since age 8 none had helped until she worked with me. Today she is sober, in nursing school, happy, and wants to attend next year's retreat.
"Resurrection After Rape" is being taught in college classrooms as a textbook, and is also used in many treatment centers as their default guide to working with rape victims. It is also the best-reviewed book on Amazon on the topic of rape recovery (thank you, those who wrote reviews!).
I've traveled to D.C., Portland, and Denver for trainings in 5-star hotels with members of this profession from all 50 states. The funny thing is, those states are launching projects to do the very things that I was prohibited from doing in Oklahoma, and are searching for ideas and grants on how to do them.
I met Lucinda, Megan, Scubagirl, Butterfly9, StehtFest, and Unfurling for the first time this year. I spoke with Elisheva on the phone.
I wrote a booklet, "A Guide to Your Rights After Rape," which will be printed (70,000 copies) and provided to agencies across the entire state.
I hired TWO former students to work at the Oklahoma Coalition Against domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, and both of them are doing amazing work. Just since December, they have transformed entire aspects of how victim care is done.
I was given the rights to help build a sweatlodge, which is rare for a person who has never completed a sundance ceremony.
I've completed 90% of a follow-up book to "Resurrection After Rape."
I spoke and played flute at my mom's memorial.
To take my own advice I want to do something I rarely do: I want to remind myself of my own worth and success. I ask all of you to do this, so it's acceptable that tonight I do it too, 5 minutes to midnight of August 10. Here is where I've come in a year.
Next week I am training the Choctaw tribe's nurses, police, victim's advocates, and social services workers how to form a Sexual Assault Response Team, so that tribal members who are raped will receive coordinated care.
I helped a rape crisis program in one Oklahoma town meet with a hospital's Board of Directors member to convince the hospital to accept a sexual assault forensic care program.
I trained fifty rape advocates on the philosophy of victim care.
I trained fifty people of various professions on the philosophy of the Spiritual Healing Retreat.
The second Spiritual Healing Retreat grew by seven more women this year.
I trained 9 sexual assault nurse examiners on the topic of "sexual assault 101."
I've joined a small group of volunteers to help organize a "Phoenix Festival," aka, "Art for Strength" show, to bring artists and musicians together to raise funds for rape crisis services.
I helped organize a summit of 50 professionals in the field of rape victim services to spend two days developing a strategic plan to improve those services in Oklahoma. Of the primary goals set by the summit were inclusion of culture/spirituality in rape recovery, organization of non-clinical SOCIAL support groups for victims, and use of technology for outreach and support for victims--a total vindication of things regarded as contraband just a year ago.
I met with ForeverHope for the first time in almost two years this past week, and was told that in all her counseling since age 8 none had helped until she worked with me. Today she is sober, in nursing school, happy, and wants to attend next year's retreat.
"Resurrection After Rape" is being taught in college classrooms as a textbook, and is also used in many treatment centers as their default guide to working with rape victims. It is also the best-reviewed book on Amazon on the topic of rape recovery (thank you, those who wrote reviews!).
I've traveled to D.C., Portland, and Denver for trainings in 5-star hotels with members of this profession from all 50 states. The funny thing is, those states are launching projects to do the very things that I was prohibited from doing in Oklahoma, and are searching for ideas and grants on how to do them.
I met Lucinda, Megan, Scubagirl, Butterfly9, StehtFest, and Unfurling for the first time this year. I spoke with Elisheva on the phone.
I wrote a booklet, "A Guide to Your Rights After Rape," which will be printed (70,000 copies) and provided to agencies across the entire state.
I hired TWO former students to work at the Oklahoma Coalition Against domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, and both of them are doing amazing work. Just since December, they have transformed entire aspects of how victim care is done.
I was given the rights to help build a sweatlodge, which is rare for a person who has never completed a sundance ceremony.
I've completed 90% of a follow-up book to "Resurrection After Rape."
I spoke and played flute at my mom's memorial.
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