Sep 25, 2026 · 27 min · 11 segments
Have you ever wished you had a safe place to share your story of childhood trauma? Do you wish you had support to heal and mindfulness tools to move forward after abuse? Dawn of Mercy helps men and…
Sheree HavlikGuest
Beth SteigerwaltHost
In a lot of the research that I've done for this podcast is that isolation and feeling like you are the only one is very prevalent across many people-

Can you tell me why it's so important for people to have support in their healing journey?

It is very easy to feel alone, and especially since this topic is not one that is openly talked about a lot.

If you get in a car accident, you tell everybody at work, "Darn, I was in a car accident yesterday." Yes, it was traumatic.

You are able to talk about it, and as you talk about it, honestly, the way that humans were made, when we talk about things, we feel better.

But this particular topic, it's, it's not something that you go to work the next day and say, "Oh, I was, I was raped last night," or, "You know, I was assaulted by my dad's friend," or, you know, whatever.

You can feel totally alone, like nobody else experienced this, because nobody talks about it, so therefore, I must be the only one, and no one understands how I feel.

Um, in fact, that's one of the, uh, one thing that another lady said, that, um, she had researched.

F- she said, "For years, I felt lonely and that no one understood me." This retreat was God-sent and not only helped me on a wonderful, wonderful path towards healing, it filled me with tons of knowledge.

We think we're not normal because society just doesn't talk about it, and it is hard.

You know, who, who wants to raise their hand in class and say, "Yes, I was assaulted." You know? It, it is hard.

And our, the reason it's so hard is sex- our sexuality was meant to be private.

And so when something so intimate and so private is assaulted, we carry it on the inside.

In a lot of the research that I've done for this podcast is that isolation and feeling like you are the only one is very prevalent across many people-

Can you tell me why it's so important for people to have support in their healing journey?

It is very easy to feel alone, and especially since this topic is not one that is openly talked about a lot.

If you get in a car accident, you tell everybody at work, "Darn, I was in a car accident yesterday." Yes, it was traumatic.

You are able to talk about it, and as you talk about it, honestly, the way that humans were made, when we talk about things, we feel better.

But this particular topic, it's, it's not something that you go to work the next day and say, "Oh, I was, I was raped last night," or, "You know, I was assaulted by my dad's friend," or, you know, whatever.

You can feel totally alone, like nobody else experienced this, because nobody talks about it, so therefore, I must be the only one, and no one understands how I feel.

Um, in fact, that's one of the, uh, one thing that another lady said, that, um, she had researched.

F- she said, "For years, I felt lonely and that no one understood me." This retreat was God-sent and not only helped me on a wonderful, wonderful path towards healing, it filled me with tons of knowledge.

We think we're not normal because society just doesn't talk about it, and it is hard.

You know, who, who wants to raise their hand in class and say, "Yes, I was assaulted." You know? It, it is hard.

And our, the reason it's so hard is sex- our sexuality was meant to be private.

And so when something so intimate and so private is assaulted, we carry it on the inside.
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