For centuries, survivors of sexual assault weren’t able to speak out. They were shamed and perversely, blamed.

Sexual assault survivors face a second wave of trauma when they become targets of online smear campaigns and smear books. Smear campaigns and smear books aim to discredit survivors, distort the truth, and influence public perception. The smears shame and silence victims and protect perpetrators. In order to get the truth out, Chanel Miller and Christine Blasey Ford wrote their own books about the personal impact of sexual assault and also the devastating effects of the trauma

As a therapist who specializes in trauma and post-traumatic stress, I am attentive to the ways survivors reclaim their voices and I love to read their stories of survivorship. Rachel Thompson: survivor and advocate Rachel Thompson’s Broken Pieces: Essays Inspired by Life is not a linear memoir. It is a lyrical collection of essays and poetic reflections that trace a survivor’s emotional landscape across time. Thompson writes not only about what happened to her, but about how