Each incident of childhood sexual abuse can foster up to twenty-six basic reactions that range in type and degree. They can manifest as mistrust, social isolation, memory problems, self-blame, and they often even result in repeated victimizations and self-harm.

Prior to my training as a counselor, I had thought that those twenty-six consequences were unique to me...that I was alone in my pain. Once I realized that I was not alone and also that these reactions were totally normal responses to abuse, I was determined to find a way to show others that they, too, were not alone...that...