
Hurt People Hurt People
In recent news, the Dominican author Junot Diaz wrote a deeply resonant account of his childhood rape and the lifelong effect the trauma had on his thoughts, actions, behaviors, world view, and sense of identity. Not surprisingly, an immediate reaction from many women whom he has hurt came forth. And I presume that many more who have felt hurt by him are remaining silent. Following that, a Facebook friend and internationally known yoga therapist suggested that, the fact that

Not Saying No, Does Not Mean Yes
It was ten years ago. She was 27 and he was 60. He was a powerful man who could advance her career, and she was willing to meet with him in the hopes that a professional opportunity would materialize. She was not even remotely attracted to him. Still, she agreed to join him for dinner in his hotel room, hoping that this small sacrifice might yield a greater success for her future. As the evening wore on, she excused herself to use the restroom, feeling relieved that the dinne

Lift Our Voices
It was my first real job. I was 16 years old and working as a check-out clerk at a local grocery store. I loved the independence of making my own money, and I had a cool boss as a bonus. He was probably in early 40s, but he acted like a teenager. He cracked jokes, stuck around to play Pac Man after the place closed, and didn’t let much ruffle his feathers. He made work fun—for a while. After some time, he began making inappropriate comments, cloaked as a joke. Comments like,

Healing The Silent Survivors
Several years back I was sitting around a kitchen table chatting with two friends with whom I am very close. One of them was Paula (name changed for privacy). We were reminiscing about our college days and we got to talking about various regrets, mostly involving alcohol. Paula began telling us of an experience she had that involved excessive drinking and a boat. Through a bit of uncomfortable laughter she described an evening during which she got more intoxicated than she