Sex Abuse Archives - Robin Shapiro

Australian Prime Minister Apologizes to Sexual and Ritual Abuse Survivors!

Here is a link to speech by Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister of Australia, from 11/25/2018, apologizing for his society's lack of support for and belief of sexual and ritual and institutional abuse survivors. I would like to see every leader of every country make this speech. For the video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zp5IgxPhee4 For the transcript: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/i-believe-you-your-country-believes-you-pm-s-apology-to-child-sex-abuse-survivors

By Robin Shapiro|2018-12-03T10:34:25-08:00December 3rd, 2018|Comments Off

Easy Ego State Intervention Workshops

Dear Readers, Ego state work has been around since before Freud, and in latter years, has been the main stay of many practices. Interventions can range from "How old did you feel when you were yelling at your wife?" to "Let's identify those dissociative states that take over your body." I've been working with this

By Robin Shapiro|2018-04-16T12:30:12-07:00April 16th, 2018|Comments Off

Defining Rape and Sexual Assault

I've been working with survivors of rape and sexual assault since I started in the mental health field. Here are my definitions: Rape: The sexual use, involving penile, digital (fingers) or objects on a woman's, man's or child's body without that person's consent, with forced consent (threats) or if that person cannot conset due to

By Robin Shapiro|2012-08-23T10:38:15-07:00August 23rd, 2012|2 Comments

Penn State: Was the abuse too horrible to acknowledge?

Here are two similar views of the Penn State child abuse debacle. One from the anonymous humble2humble blog (obviously by a man of faith who understands child abuse): http://humble2humble.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html. The second is by David Brooks, from yesterday's NYT's: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/opinion/brooks-lets-all-feel-superior.html Both speak to the commonality of denial and avoidance. Both are great writing. What do you think?

By Robin Shapiro|2011-11-16T14:27:43-08:00November 16th, 2011|3 Comments

Trauma and Trauma Therapy: Interview on “Public Exposure”

I was interviewed by Stan Emert on his cable TV show, "Public Exposure" a few weeks ago. Here is the YouTube link to the show: http://youtu.be/KsFoHFQxx4o Topics include trauma definitions, PTSD, EMDR, Ego State Therapy, and a minute of traumatic grief. Due to a neck injury, I've been unable to spend more than a few minutes

By Robin Shapiro|2011-05-31T16:08:42-07:00May 31st, 2011|Comments Off

A Meditation for Clients Who Have Complex Trauma

This meditation was generously shared by someone else's client who was neglected and abused as a child. She does it as part of breathing practice: breathing in each true line. In it she speaks to different parts of self and all parts of self, counteracting distressing and untrue beliefs and orienting parts to the present.

By Robin Shapiro|2010-05-19T20:38:10-07:00May 19th, 2010|Comments Off

UCLA 2009 Trauma Conference Day 1, van der Kolk & Shapiro

Day 1: Bessel van der Kolk is lovely. He's humble, he's funny, and he is the premiere researcher on the neurobiology and/or efficacy of trauma treatments in the world. And cute and brilliant, of course. Here are nearly random gems from 3 hours of notes: With trauma, there are no stories, only sensory experience: images,

By Robin Shapiro|2009-03-06T22:35:54-08:00March 6th, 2009|2 Comments

Searching for Angela Shelton

A reader sent me this link: http://store.searchingforangelasheltonstore.com/ It's for a video made by a woman named Angela Shelton. Angela contacted woman all over the country with her same name. A large percentage of them had been sexually and physically abused. The video and a book, which my reader said was quite moving, is available at

By Robin Shapiro|2008-01-14T08:46:29-08:00January 14th, 2008|2 Comments