Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 1908

Tonight's special guest is Matt Carey from London, England, a childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivor and author of the new book 'A Small Boy Smiling: a remarkable journey of healing from the trauma of child sexual abuse to spiritual awakening.' Included is a 20-page chapter by a trauma therapist, Sarah Paton Briggs, about their therapy sessions together, and listeners can preview the first two chapter free! When Matt was 8 years old, he was targeted by a group of pedophiles who subjected him to 18-months of horrific sexual abuse. The trauma made him feel guilt and shame, and he was too scared to tell anyone what happened. This led to teenage alcoholism and adult PTSD. Matt's book focuses on how he overcame trauma to find success and spiritual peace. He explored many roads on his healing journey including conventional trauma therapies, a month-long pilgrimage in Spain, and hiking and studying spiritual philosophy and meditation in India. However he found the 12-Step-Recovery model very helpful throughout his healing process. In addition to maintaining sobriety through AA for 25 years, he recently facilitated a group specifically for survivors. Matt writes, "A few years ago I also joined a survivor group in the United Kingdom called Survivors of Sexual Abuse Anonymous (SoSAA) which uses an adapted version of the 12 Step program." Matt is sharing his story and incredible experiences with NAASCA for the first time and hopes to help other survivors of child abuse to discover their own healing. We can't wait to hear from Matt and welcome him to the NAASCA Family!