Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 1850

Tonight's special guest is Cynthia Lackner, MA in Psychology, from Denver, Colorado. She is an expert on the effects of trauma, brain injury, stress, and substance abuse,  and has presented in many prestigious arenas including to medical, legal, psychology, and education professionals. She has created and implemented programs and workshops on making life changes to thrive rather than just exist. She promotes the belief, “True health is not the absence of disease; it's about the presence of vitality." In her private practice, Cynthia focuses on stress-free living working with people all over the country who experienced incest, sexual abuse, and domestic abuse. To mask pain from trauma some people self-medicate with alcohol, marijuana, prescription drugs, food and other substances. She points out, "Often people don't feel worthy, competent, powerful, and able to love or be loved back. They're living with anger, sadness, disappointment, fear, shame, and guilt." Cynthia uses a science-based technique called Emotional Brain Training to teach survivors how to rewire their emotional-brain to reduce effects of being triggered. She also co-produced a documentary for PBS called "Respect Me" about dating violence prevention. Her message to tonight's listeners is, "I hear about people's struggles. They are real. We dive deep into the root cause of their stress."  She concludes,  “What I offer is hope. I help people see what they can do to bring about changes, to make their lives work better. They get clarity about what is keeping them from living the life they envisioned. From there, they can make good decisions.”