Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 3050

Tonight's special guest is Valerie Todesco from Virginia Beach, Virginia, a survivor and activist who's the author of the BLOG vis4voice.blog. "I am an artist, a writer, and an advocate," she says, "always seeking ways to shine light into the darkness and offer hope for other adult survivors to find their way toward healing." She knows all about it. "My father died when I was two. I was the youngest of four. My mother remarried less than a year later to a man who molested me throughout my childhood. I was told to keep it secret to protect my mother who would die of a broken heart if she found out." Compounding her trauma was her older sister. "She continues to be a toxic abuser to this day, never having dealt with her own trauma issues." Her stepbrother, 18 when Valerie was 10, her grandfather, her sister's older boyfriend, a lifeguard at the pool. "I would freeze and go someplace else in my mind. I still struggle with dissociation in addition to ADHD, Depression, and debilitating Anxiety. I went on to spend the next 20 years married to two abusive narcissists. It was during that time I was diagnosed with Complex PTSD." Her life has been a struggle to maintain her sanity. "It wasn't until I took my daughter and left my second husband that my trauma began to manifest in new and paralyzing ways having progressed to episodes where I faint and freeze in the midst of certain triggers." She goes on, "As an Intuitive Empath I have always had a strong desire to comfort those who are suffering, feeling as if it is part of what makes my individual gifts so special. It is that ability to want to share love and joy that drives my desire to make a positive impact in the lives of others who suffer in the shadows of their own childhood trauma."