I am thrilled to announce the launch of my new book, Out of the Basement: Beyond Surviving Sexual Assault, a transformative guide that beckons us to unearth the courage, resilience, and strength lying dormant within.
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Sexual assault – any sexual assault – is a violation of mind, body, and spirit. It leaves behind a residue of shame, self-blame, as well as the sense that we are never safe. No matter what’s happened to you, it is possible to shed the residue and intentionally heal, be hopeful, and be empowered. We can thrive and flourish beyond surviving.
Deborah Halvorson’s Beyond Surviving Coaching empowers each client, through a collaborative process, to rediscover who they truly are and reclaim what was taken from them.
Beyond Surviving coaching is for sexual assault survivors who feel stuck in the cycle of shame, self-blame, and never-safe feelings. Who feels they are on a hamster wheel that just keeps repeating? Through coaching, we explore together how this residue is present in your current life. We get curious about what’s working and what’s not. The goal is to increase awareness, reduce judgment, create positive change, and reconnect with your mind, body, and spirit.
Beyond Surviving Coaching does not look backward into the past. We look forward and get curious by asking powerful questions like “What’s the opportunity here?” or “What’s possible here?”
Coaching is about discovery, awareness, and choice. During this process you will be supported and encouraged as you find your own answers and make important life-changing choices. All you need is a willingness to explore and step outside of your comfort zone. You bring the willingness, and together we’ll figure out the rest.
This is the first coaching session. It’s an opportunity to discuss your current life situation and circumstances and those areas of your life that may be difficult. We will create and design our coaching relationship, explore your core values and strengths, get curious about what holds you back, and explore your expectations and goals for coaching.
The coaching process requires a commitment to yourself, along with a willingness to get curious and explore possibilities for change. Change happens over time: sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. You will make forward progress in each session if you commit to the process.
One final closing session is required so we can assess your progress, discuss your learning, and celebrate your shifts and changes. Together we’ll create an action plan to continue to deepen your learning and forward your action
Mother; Wife; Author; Founder and Owner; Beyond-Surviving Coach; Former litigation paralegal; Sexual assault survivor; Devoted to the divinity within
I was 27 when I first dared to acknowledged the abuse. It was terrifying to speak the truth while I was still in the abuse cycle. As you can imagine, it was not well received. But once I told the truth, I couldn’t take it back. I believed ME. I chose ME. There was within me a power and courage so strong that I never doubted my memories or the truth—a power and courage that lives within each one of us. I was able to break away. At the age of 27 I left behind everything and nearly everyone I knew.
I understand that through the depth of suffering and pain I’ve lived through, survived, and healed from, the life I live and who I am today is an anomaly. And I support other sexual assault survivors in becoming the anomaly in their world as well.
I am a survivor of familial sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and satanic cult ritual abuse. None of it was my fault. I was raised by two very fractured and damaged parents. They were raised, in turn, by fractured and damaged parents. We are what we learn —until we learn something new. I have learned something new. The family cycle of sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and satanic cult ritual abuse stops with me. In fact, I believe my primary purpose in this life is to stop the family cycle of abuse that has raged rampant for generations in my family.
However, this abuse cycle couldn’t be stopped until I recognized there actually was an abuse cycle. Which means I had to acknowledge the truth. A truth I was conditioned over and over and over again to deny. I was conditioned at a very young age to believe that I would be severely punished if I told the truth. Or worse, one of my siblings would be severely punished and it would be my fault. I was trapped in a psychosphere of abuse and dysfunction. Nothing was safe.
And so began the next phase of my healing evolution. An evolution and journey which presented me daily the choice of choosing the unfamiliar and many times uncomfortable path rather than the familiar path that just keeps repeating the conditioning. I continuously choose my healing journey. I choose ME over and over again. While some may see this as selfish, what I know to be true is if I’m not safe and I don’t trust ME, how can I be that with anyone else? I can only be that which I know. So healing from sexual assault, sexual abuse, sex trafficking, satanic cult ritual abuse is an unlearning of what I was taught and conditioned to believe about myself. It’s a slow evolution of ebb and flow between struggle and joy.
I know what it’s like to be lost in the jungle and I’ve found a way through. It is now my passion and calling to work with and support other sexual assault survivors to find their own way through the jungle.
Certified Trauma-Informed Coach
Trained and Certified in Crisis Counseling
Associate Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation
Specialization in Foundations of Positive Psychology
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