{"id":2726,"date":"2018-01-30T17:05:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T22:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/?p=2726"},"modified":"2018-01-31T16:44:36","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T21:44:36","slug":"sharing-story-protect-lds-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mormontherapist\/2018\/01\/sharing-story-protect-lds-children.html","title":{"rendered":"Sharing My Story: Protect LDS Children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"100311-F-4583H-002\"
Image found on bing.com \u2013 free to share and use page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As I\u2019ve written in previous posts, I\u2019ve been involved with the protectldschildren.org<\/a> petition started by Sam Young.<\/p>\n

The following is written by the anonymous guest I had on Mormon Mental Health Podcast this past week to talk about the experiences that she submitted to the webpage. Be aware that this post and the podcast contain details of sexual assault.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, for the first time since I started walking this healing path, I was able to find some compassion and offer it to myself.<\/span><\/p>\n

It happened when I realized that adult<\/b> me knows that I am safe. Adult me knows that being betrayed does not put me in any actual, physical, or emotional danger. Grown up Sandy knows that when I experience a betrayal, it really has nothing to do with me<\/b> and that I will always be okay.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"27335620_10210589498284717_1442894935_o\"
Post-it note that the guest kept with her as she gave her interview.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The little girl inside me knows no such thing. That fear response? That deep feeling of hurt and loss? That\u2019s her. Her intuition is far purer than my adult intuition, which has been silenced and repressed for so long. So when I can recognize that she<\/b> is afraid, that is important information, and I need to listen to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

And when I realized that? I realized that I<\/b> could keep her safe. That I don\u2019t have to let anyone hurt her ever again. That I can give her the love and protection she never found in the world. And not only that I can, that it is my most profound and important responsibility to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought she was lost. That version of me. And in some ways, it would be easier if she were. But she\u2019s not. She is the one who continues to feel terror at the idea of abandonment, even when I know cognitively that nothing bad is happening. She is the one who stamps her feet at the injustice in the world. The one who craves connection. She is the one who desperately wants to trust someone, anyone, to feel loved, and cared for.<\/span><\/p>\n

And now I know that I am the only one who can truly give that to her. I am the only one who can truly<\/b> promise her that I will never leave her, never betray her, never abandon her, the only person capable of making that promise and keeping it.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

And that is what I am going to do, because she deserves it.<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.mormonmentalhealth.org\/episode-124-protect-lds-children-one-of-the-many-stories-part-1\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.mormonmentalhealth.org\/episode-125-protect-lds-children-one-of-the-many-stories-part-2\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Natasha Helfer Parker, LCMFT, CST can be reached at\u00a0natashaparker.org<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0runs an online practice,\u00a0Symmetry Solutions<\/em><\/a>, which focuses on helping families and individuals with faith concerns, sexuality and mental health. She hosts the\u00a0Mormon Mental Health<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mormon Sex Info<\/a>\u00a0Podcasts, writes a regular column for\u00a0Sunstone Magazine<\/a>,\u00a0is the current president of the\u00a0Mormon Mental Health Association<\/a>\u00a0and runs a sex education program, Sex Talk with Natasha<\/a>. She has over 20 years of experience working with primarily an LDS\/Mormon clientele.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I\u2019ve written in previous posts, I\u2019ve been involved with the protectldschildren.org petition started by Sam Young. The following is written by the anonymous guest I had on Mormon Mental Health Podcast this past week to talk about the experiences that she submitted to the webpage. Be aware that this post and the podcast contain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":766,"featured_media":2729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86,28,87,27,18,93,1],"tags":[34,88,33,97,104,46,92,29,165,47,32,99],"class_list":["post-2726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abuse","category-adolescents","category-boundaries","category-children","category-sexual-abuse","category-trauma","category-uncategorized","tag-adolescents-2","tag-boundaries-2","tag-children-2","tag-consent","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-lds","tag-mental-health","tag-mormon","tag-mormon-newsletter","tag-mormonism","tag-parenting-2","tag-trauma"],"yoast_head":"\nSharing My Story: Protect LDS Children<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As I've written in previous posts, I've been involved with the protectldschildren.org petition started by Sam Young. 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