Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2213

Tonight's special guest is Laura K. Halverson from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, a survivor of childhood sexual, physical and emotional abuse. She's now a returning NAASCA family member. She first told her story, other than with her therapist, on our show in Dec. 2016 … and her bravery in coming forward was not lost on us. We know how much courage it takes to walk through the fear of giving up one's secrets from childhood abuses and trauma. And still Laura has a lot to talk about. "I was abused from infancy to now. I have multiple perpetrators, so many I can't count," Laura notes. "The abuse was horrible and very traumatic." Laura was not only abused by the males in her family, but by her mother as well. "She pimped me out from the age of 6 until I was 12. Hundreds of men raped me. One had a gun at my head. Another used a knife to subdue me. Many used pills and alcohol." There have been many consequences in Laura's life. "At a young age I taught myself to dissociate, breaking into branches of other personalities,” she reports. Among other things, she's suffered from DID (dissociative identity disorder), cPTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder), major depressive disorder, and an anxiety disorder. "I am alone," she says. "My family denies the abuse and I don't have contact with them. I am working to build a new life. I have my very first apartment alone and I love it. I can do whatever I want. I am working with a psychologist who specializes in trauma and abuse … and I have an amazing psychiatrist." She's in a better place now. "I still struggle every day. But I am fighting the demons and I will turn out on top," Laura says. "I just hope I can reach at least one listener and give that listener a little courage."