CASTIMONIA

Sexual Purity Support & Recovery Group

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ChildProof America – Back to School Event (Sex-Trafficking Awareness)

http://childproofamerica.org/

Events:
Back to School Parent Empowerment Seminar 
September 8th – 8:30am – 3pm
​Wyndham Energy Corridor Hotel
Lunch Provided
This seminar will provide a comprehensive overview of an epidemic our Texas governor has recently declared a public health crisis.  Topics Include…
* What is sex trafficking?  * Demographics  * International vs. domestic sex trafficking  * Spot the pimp  * Six textbook stages of grooming  * Social media/predatory apps  * The link between pornography and trafficking  *Pornography, understanding the physiochemical impact on the developing brain  * How complex trauma recalibrates the mind  * Why trauma informed counseling is critical to victims of trauma  * Combatting sex trafficking, a cultural shift  * The Blue Campaign, a federal approach to combating sex trafficking  * Legislative action plan  * and much more!
Kelly Litvak, Executive Director, Childproof America
Benjamin Nolot, Founder/CEO, Exodus Cry – Director of Award-winning film Nefarious: Merchant of Souls
Beau Abdulla, Executive Director, Love People Not Pixels
Shandra Carter, LCSW, TCU specialist of trauma-informed therapy
Debi Tengler, Chief Relations Officer, Arrow Child & Family Ministries
Julia Walsh, Survivor Advocacy Coordinator, UnBound
Laurie Charles, MSN, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P, CA-CPSANE, Clinical Assistant Professor of Nursing, Texas A&M
Sex trafficking survivor panel​
Mick McKeown, Executive Director, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington DC
Sergeant Luis Menendez-Sierra, Sergeant with the Houston Police Special Victims Division and Commander with the       Houston Metro ICAC Task Force

  

 To learn more about each of our guest speakers go to their bio page located here.

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Withholding Sex Is a Form of Psychological Abuse

Originally posted at: https://gentlepathmeadows.wordpress.com/2016/08/20/withholding-sex-is-a-form-of-psychological-abuse

by Gentle Path at The Meadows

Alexandra Katehakis, MFT, CSAT, CST is a Senior Fellow at Gentle Path at The Meadows. The following is an excerpt from her book “Mirror of Intimacy: Daily Reflections on Emotional and Erotic Intelligence.” You can find it at www.TheMeadowsBookstore.com or on www.Amazon.com.

Withholding love or sex is psychological abuse and results from early trauma. Withholding is altogether different from not having sex or not reciprocating love. People don’t have sex for many reasons. They might be traumatized. They might suffer from sexual dysfunction. They might be practicing self-care and setting appropriate boundaries for them. They might even be engaging in the political act of a sex strike in an effort to enact social change. There are equally many reasons why people might not reciprocate love. But to withhold sex or love as a punishment is a different matter altogether, and is always the result of learned emotional or mental abuse. Manipulating loved ones might appear to be a thought-out strategy, but it’s always compulsive.

Withholding exemplifies how deeply we hurt ourselves when we try to hurt others, and how deeply hurt so many of us have been. The phrase, “This hurts me more than it hurts you” (commonly uttered before corporeal punishment), is actually true. A caregiver doling out physical pain literally experiences the punishment along with the person they are hurting. Unfortunately s/he is also reinforcing a psychological pattern that brings psychic agony and isolation. Likewise, those who purposefully withhold love or sex certainly feel the pain of isolation from their actions.

Like any addiction or compulsion, such habitual behavior doesn’t just disappear. Because withholding is often masked in denial, it can be difficult to confront. Withholding is a very human quality; most of us at one time have given and received “the silent treatment.” Since most solutions to human troubles involve caring, attention, and love, to withhold means to deny solutions. Such withholding is probably a leading factor in many personal, social, and global conflicts.

Help for Sex Addiction and Intimacy Issues

If you’re a man who’s struggling with sexual compulsions or intimacy issues, the Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows offers 5-day workshops which may help you break free from self destructive behaviors and strengthen your relationship with your partner or spouse. The Men’s Sexual Recovery Workshop helps participants to address sexual obsessions and compulsions, broaden their views about sexuality, maintain positive relationships and avoid the harmful patterns of the past.

In A Man’s Way™ Retreat you learn how The Man Rules™ affect all your relationships with others and yourself. You will also look at how past experiences affect your ability to be present in your relationships and stand as a healthy man in the space you have created for your life.

And, for those who need a more comprehensive treatment experience for complex sexual addiction and intimacy issues, The Meadows Outpatient Center offers a Sex Addiction Intensive Outpatient Program, and Gentle Path at the Meadows offers a 45-day inpatient treatment program based on the work of world-renowned expert Dr. Patrick Carnes, who is also a Senior Fellow at The Meadows.

For more information on these programs and many others call The Meadows at 800-244-4949.

 

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Toddler Tears

by jrmybennett

Last night I went to another meeting last night. It was a much more of an intimate venue and more comfortable setting. During the meeting everyone was sharing stories of their past. I decided it was time I shared a bit about myself. As I began to relate my story of my addiction, how I have let everyone I love down, how I don’t remember who I am anymore, how I hate the person I see in the mirror I began to cry….

This wasn’t a manly single tear down the face cry but a full on snot bubbling sob. I was crying like a three year old who had just dropped their popsicle in the sand. It felt good to let all that emotion go in a room full of strangers, to feel unencumbered by people’s preconceived notions. While I was speaking a rough looking man got up and left the room, I assumed I had sickened him with my display. He had declined to speak earlier but when he returned he addressed me directly and began to cry himself. He said he remembered what it was like to be in my shoes. How I had taken the first steps and recovery is possible. I hope to god he’s right.

I start “real” counseling on the 29th. I can’t wait and I’m ready to do this once and for all. I pray that the ones I have hurt and betrayed the most someday forgive me. I know I have a long road ahead of me but every journey begins with a single step.