Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 1139

Tonight's special guest is Dolores (Dee) Miller from Philadelphia, PA, an abuse survivor, activist and poet. Since dealing with her past pain, Dolores says she has become more spiritual. Now she must be ready to help others who need guidance and a sensitive person to listen to their expressions of distress. Dolores was in her 30s when she began having nightmares and visions of sexual abuse. She realized these came from her childhood and that she had somehow been able to suppress the memory of her experience until then. The images of abuse explained a lot. Dolores was adopted away from her parents by her uncle and aunt at a young age. “They raised me. They rescued me,” she says. “It took me years to realize from what they rescued me. My birth home was dysfunctional.” Dolores says she began writing because she was going through a healing process. “I became in touch with my creativity,” she says. “I found I had plenty to say, and the best way to express my feelings was to write them down. They took the form of poetry.” Her healing process not only started Dolores writing, but it increased her spirituality. She says faith helped her immensely in getting past memories that were sometimes paralyzing. Dolores is in her second year of study with the American Institute of Theology and Philosophy. Now she puts her anger to positive use by supporting Child Advocates and making sure lawyers act on children's behalf and that children get the counseling they need. "I can also be positive by showing how I thrive as a survivor," she says, "by talking about strength and determination, about fighting and acknowledging, and about developing the courage of a warrior."