My Account 2

Future Conferences

Save the date! 2023 – April 11-13, Hilton Chicago, Chicago, IL 2024 – April 2-4, Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego, CA 2025 – April 22-24, Anaheim Marriott, Anaheim, CA 2026 – April 7-9, Sheraton New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 2027 – March 30-April 1, Washington Hilton, Washington, DC 2028 – April 17-19, Gaylord Rockies, Aurora, …

Dyanie Bermeo

My name is Dyanie, and I was sexually assaulted by someone impersonating a police officer. I constantly blamed myself for it all, as I was a student studying criminal justice. “I should have known better” is what I kept telling myself. After a two-week investigation by the police, they switched from treating me as a …

Tracy Rector

I’m a survivor of domestic violence. For years, I had no voice. Gradually, little by little, I lost agency over my life. For 23 years I was married to a minister – living in a glass house with an abusive husband.   His spiritual abuse bruised my spirit. Being married in the early 80’s, emergency shelters …

Wendy Jensen

As a brand-new veterinary school graduate back in the 80’s, I had achieved my dream. So why wasn’t I happy? Why did I continue to carry the weight of despair, along with a lonely hopelessness? I decided that therapy might help, but it wasn’t easy. Days before that first appointment, I drove around the office …

Tizz O’Toole

I was five years old when things went sideways. My father was back after walking out when I was a baby.  Every rotten thing that a kid could ever experience short of death became the new normal for the next nine years at his house when I visited. Summers, school holidays, and every other weekend were …

Caroline Hammond

I never knew how rare it is for police, lawyers and healthcare workers to believe survivors of abuse: nor how vital that belief is to someone’s healing. Until one evening I made a discovery on my fiancés computer. There were online forums this man visited, which discussed how to drug your girlfriend and watch while …

Rena Romano

For almost two decades, I was molested by an older half-brother starting at the age of four, and raped by a co-worker in my early twenties. The shame of their crimes almost killed me. I tried desperately to erase those horrific memories and numb the agonizing shame by using drugs, alcohol, and sex. Shortly after …

Cathy Almonte

Having been a victim of domestic violence, I sought drugs and alcohol to ease my pain.  My cries fell upon closed ears.  It was not until I started my artwork that I thought someone was hearing me. Here are two pieces I have created, that describe what it means to be a survivor. This rose …

Amanda Culpepper 

A piece of me was taken in September of 2001 when I became a victim of an armed robbery and sexual assault. The months and years that followed taught me who I was meant to be, and that girl is a warrior. As a victim, I watched law enforcement work my case with integrity and …