Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2761

Tonight's special guest is Andrew Pari, LCSW, trauma specialist, from San Diego, CA, a returning NAASCA family member who is the founder and Executive Director of Sexual Assault Awareness. He's been called the ‘nation's leading authority on the arousal mechanism in sexualized violence,' and a pioneer in sexual assault treatments that bridge the gap from the world of psychology to the world of hidden sexual expression often expressed in the kink/BDSM realm. Andrew is a psychotherapist with nearly 30 years' experience treating female survivors of sexual abuse and assault, including sex workers. He is a Board Member and Certification Program Director with the Center for Positive Sexuality, speaks and trains nationally on "taboo" aspects of rape and sexualized violence, and a contributor to '#MeToo: Counsellors and psychotherapists speak about sexual violence and abuse.,' where Andrew tells his own story for the first time. Andrew became interested in these issues when working with a colleague and found it was quite common for survivors to delay recovery due to feelings of shame or guilt, and a sense of self-responsibility for childhood sexual assaults. Children are helpless, innocent, and powerless against predators. The 'responsibility' belongs to the predators .. not the child. "I had assumed this was common knowledge in the field. I have since learned that there is still so much to do in basic education on arousal for survivors."