Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2866

Tonight's special guest is Linda Lee Blakemore from Pittsburgh, PA, a child abuse survivor, author, speaker and advocate. Her first book: 'Kids Helping Kids Break the Silence of Sexual Abuse' tells the true stories of fifteen child survivors. The second is a memoir: 'Entrenched: A Memoir of Holding on and Letting Go' tells the powerful true story of the unhealthy relationships Linda chose, the past she had to confront, and how she she held on to the very thing she needed to let go .. the secret of her child abuse. "On average a woman will leave a destructive relationship seven times before leaving for good," Linda says. "Why? And why do we choose the wrong partner in the first place? If you've been there, or know someone who has, find a quiet spot and start reading." Linda continues, "We all have a past. When our past is cloaked in trauma, that trauma can and often leads us to unhealthy partners as a way to remember, to work through unresolved psychological issues, to gain control over something we couldn't control as a child, or as was my case, in an attempt to get the outcome we did not get as a child."  When a destructive affair with an older, married boss ended in sexual assault, Linda was grateful that her husband took her back. The reconciliation was short-lived. Linda quickly found herself drawn over and over to other men. It was then she recognized her pattern with men and Linda knew she needed to seek help.