I was at the doctor’s office the other day when I saw a card for the OC WarmLine. Sponsored by the National Alliance of Mental Illness-Orange County, the WarmLine is staffed by “warm, friendly voices” who can provide help with substance abuse or mental health concerns (including depression), provide referrals for mental health…Continue reading The OC WarmLine
My latest piece in the Generation X: Are You There God, It’s Me blog focuses on the Duggars and five things we can all do to prevent and identify child-on-child abuse. You can read it here.
It’s been two weeks since I was on the TEDx stage. I am still reeling at the amazing day, the supernatural speakers, and the wonderful friends I made. I spoke about the power of responsibility and how—when we take responsibility for our emotions, reactions, and decisions—we can create the future that we WANT. Other speakers…Continue reading TEDx PasadenaWomen
My email was flooded this morning with news that St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee A. Piché had resigned. If you haven’t been following the news, the archdiocese has been hammered during the past two years as legal disclosures showed that Archdiocese officials knew about child sexual abuse and…Continue reading Twin Cities Archbishop resigns—or—Who is shrewd and who is brave?
The Compassionate Response: How to help and empower the adult victim of child sexual abuse is now available in Spanish. Paperback and Kindle editions. About the book: One of the hardest things that many adult survivors of child sexual abuse will ever do is come forward and tell someone. Even if the survivor finally discloses decades…Continue reading La Respuesta Compasiva
Relationships are brutal, honest, naked, and charged—few more so than those between women who are brave enough to trust each other beyond small talk and social niceties. Lisa Lutz (author of The Spellman series) in her latest novel HOW TO START A FIRE, creates a complex and page-turning saga of three women—imperfect and completely human—as…Continue reading Book Review: How to Start a Fire
Last week, I learned that I have been selected as a 2015 Ambassador of Peace award winner by the Violence Prevention Coalition of Orange County. That’s some pretty cool news! I was nominated by my cousin and friend Darcy Fehringer-Mask*, who won the award herself in 2008 for her work in diversity and anti-bias education,…Continue reading Ambassador of Peace
Friday’s document release from religious orders whose members abused children in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles shines a very bright light on ugly doings at Anaheim’s Servite High School. I already wrote about the sadomasochist Joe Sharkey. That one was a jaw dropper. Take the time to read it if you haven’t. The Register also…Continue reading The Servites are lying to you. They just don’t do it very well.
This is probably the most telling document trail from today’s release of clergy sex abuse documents. From the file of Servite Friar and former Servite HS teacher Joe Sharkey: Letter from Fr. Steven Ryan to Servite Provincial Fr. Terence O’Connor: One of the difficulties awaiting my return from Australia was that Joe Sharkey had been guilty…Continue reading One Servite High School file is all you need
What do you do when you get the chance of a lifetime? Worry. And sweat. I was selected to be a speaker for the May 30 TEDx Pasadena Women conference. Being a speaker at TED and TEDx are HUGE goals of mine … so I have to admit: when I received the acceptance, I thought that…Continue reading Inside the TEDx speaker’s mind
A federal bankruptcy judge has set an August 3 deadline for victims of child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul. The deadline, called a BAR DATE, is the final day and men and women abused as children can file claims against the Archdiocese to expose their abuser and get justice and accountability. The…Continue reading Bar date set for St. Paul/Minneapolis abuse victims
Yesterday, a 17-year-old victim of child sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts filed a sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit against the local Sacramento council and the national Boy Scout organization. The victim, who waited until after he earned the honor of Eagle Scout to file the lawsuit, was molested by a former Assistant Scout…Continue reading A wake-up call for the Boy Scouts
It’s the the papal version of the back-handed compliment: In a one-sentence throw-away line in yesterday’s Vatican press bulletin, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn. The Holy Father Francis has accepted the resignation from the pastoral government of the diocese of St. Joseph-Kansas City, Mo. (U.S.A.) presented by His…Continue reading Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn is … OUT!
I had the opportunity to work with a very strong and brave group of clergy sex abuse survivors over the weekend. Two things struck me: Their total bravery and willingness to grow beyond trauma, and Their compassion for friends and family members who want to be loving and helpful, but don’t know what to say or do.…Continue reading Helping the supporters
Katie, bar the door: I have been invited to speak at TEDx PasadenaWomen. To say I am excited would be an understatement. Achieving this kind of goal—speaking in front of engaged and visionary women at a TEDx event—has been mind-blowing. What will I be talking about? Well, that’s a secret. What is TEDx PasadenaWomen?…Continue reading TEDx PasadenaWomen
It’s not 1984 anymore. But Saturday Night Live forgot that this past weekend. Yesterday, I discussed what we can learn from the awful Barbara Walters/Mary Kay LeTourneau interview aired last Friday. But ABC is not alone in its total disregard for the damage caused by adult women who sexually abuse children (girls and boys). NBC…Continue reading SNL pushes the line too far—and how to push back
KUAM announced today that former LA priest John Wadeson has been reinstated in the Archdiocese of Agana (Guam). I have written about Wadeson in the past. According to the Los Angeles Archdiocese, he was twice accused of sexually abusing children and had been banned from working as a priest there. According to a statement published in…Continue reading Guam’s Wadeson reinstated
Barbara Walters’ interview with convicted child molester Mary Kay LeTourneau and her once-victim-now-husband Vili Fualaau was gut wrenching. The romanticization of the abuse was awful enough. But giving a woman like LeTourneau a platform to justify what she did is reprehensible. Being outraged or upset about the interview doesn’t help anyone. But talking about her predatory…Continue reading What we can learn from the LeTourneau interview
This morning I spoke with KFI 640 AM’s Bill Carroll about my new book, child sex abuse and cover-up, and why we are seeing more female teachers being arrested for sexually abusing boys. It was a great conversation—covering everything from internet safety to the importance of civil and criminal laws that protect kids and expose…Continue reading Today’s interview on KFI’s Bill Carroll Show
So printing a brochure is what passes as “help[ing] the healing process.” This past Sunday, the Orange County Register published a front page story on Orange Bishop Kevin Vann. The focus of the article was a profile of the new-ish bishop and his views on the meaning of Easter. But what the article actually said was far…Continue reading Oh, how quickly we forget, or: How the OC Register gave Bishop Vann a pass