Once the victim of an abuser herself, Sarah Van Hook grew up to be a champion pediatric and geriatric therapist. Yep, Sarah has seen the full gamut of evil out there in all its manifestations and she’s lived to tell about it!  

With power, she pushes back the darkness every day as she shows others the way to victory. Truly, I am so honored to get to interview her. 

 First: A Special Note from 

Cathy Krafve and Gina Butler 

You are invited to our Book Bananza! Yep, like YOU, we’re bananas about books! December 3rd at Potpourri. Keep reading for more details at the end of today’s blog.

Now back to the amazing Sarah Van Hook.

Transforming the Trauma of Sexual Abuse

Sarah is a licensed therapist, specializing in clinical mental health, plus marriage and family therapy. She has two master’s degrees, hospital experience, and is about to start her doctorate. Obviously, this gal knows her stuff. 

“The most important thing to remember is, in the moment, it’s a very, very hard experience, obviously,” says Sarah. “But a lot of what people forget is we have control over how much we let it define our life.” (For more on how God defines us, click here.)

Certainly, Sarah is the perfect example of taking a traumatic experience in her childhood and transforming it forward into a beautiful gift of compassion now. Due to a lifetime of work, she’s well-equipped to work with kids who have experienced trauma, particularly sexual assault or molestation. With tender understanding, she gets what they’re going through. TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE

Cathy Krafve, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, and author of The Well: The Art of Drawing Out Authentic Conversations , invites your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. Truth with a Texas Twang.

Conversation is the basis of all companionship, but how do we get our teenage daughters to talk to us? If only we could capture your daughter’s heart! Not to mention her attention for more than thirty seconds! Isn’t that the dream of all parents of teenage daughters? Let’s tune in.

“Teenagers look weird, they smell weird, they sound weird, but they’re not!” laughs Connections Expert DeeDee Lake. “They are just a walking big heart that needs love. If we see them the way Jesus sees them, we’re gonna love them.” 

DeeDee’s Tips for Tuning In to Your Teenage Daughter

# 1 They Want Us to Be Adults

“Right now I think teenagers have the hardest time in history of being teenagers,” explains DeeDee. “They’re expected to be adults but yet they’re not allowed to be adults.” For that reason, we need to have a lot of compassion on the teenagers we love. Plus, we need to act like adults. TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE.

Cathy Krafve, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, and author of The Well: The Art of Drawing Out Authentic Conversations , invites your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. Truth with a Texas Twang.

How do we keep our daughter’s hearts and souls safe in this crazy world? There’s hope for parents, according to Connections Expert DeeDee Lake. What’s the next step for teenage girl

We face so much destruction and depression today. How do we create the right conversations with our daughters? DeeDee’s passion is communication and connection, so she brings much wisdom about connecting with our teenage girls. 

For more from Rosie MaKinney, click here.

I’m not waiting for Thanksgiving to thank God for champion warrior women, like Rosie MaKinney. She joined me to talk about “porn-proofing” your kids. (For Rosie’s story, click here.)

Hollywood seems to claim October for evil and destruction in the name of entertainment. Our culture throws all kinds of yucky stuff at families, especially at our most vulnerable children. Today, we’re reclaiming October to safeguard our kids.

“Porn-Proofing” Your Kids  

I had tons of concerns when we first hooked up our desktop computer to internet way back in the 90s. Do we get our kids their own computers? When do we let them have phones? 

Many people suggested apps to safeguard their internet connections, but I knew one truth right away. My kids are smarter than me.

That was in the days long before tablets and screen time made it into my daily vocabulary. Unfortunately, technology has only gotten more tricky for families. Is “porn-proofing” your kids even possible?

Rosie tells me there are plenty for reason for parents to be alarmed. Physical tech solutions were not enough to fence in kids or keep the yucky stuff out. (I’m using quotation marks a lot today, so the SEO police won’t put this blog in internet jail.)

The Threat to Kids

“To a tender heart and an innocent mind, exposure to porn is traumatic and it’s dangerous,” she explains. “It activates the sexual part a child’s feeling brain before their thinking brain even knows what sex is.” They don’t have enough information to understand. But all children are naturally curious, she says. (For more about safeguarding your child, Rosie recommends MediaSavvyMoms.com)

Having “porn consumption” in your home (even privately in the middle of the night) is a threat to your children’s well-being. (For more resources, including for your church, click here.)

For instance, children in homes with “porn consumption” are more likely to be accidentally exposed than children in homes without “porn consumption,” according to Rosie. She explains why this is a big problem. 

If we’re really serious about “porn-proofing” our kids, they need to choose boundaries for themselves. That means the adults have to set some sturdy boundaries, too. It helps to know the science behind the danger. Rosie offers great tips and encouragement to "porn-proof the kids in your family.  TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE.

Cathy Krafve, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, and author of The Well: The Art of Drawing Out Authentic Conversations , invites your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. Truth with a Texas Twang.

Ironically, if I tell you today’s topic is “porn addiction,” without quotation marks, my website may end up in SEO jail. If I go offline next week, you’ll know why. Getting help to “porn-invaded marriages,” as my new hero Rosie MaKinney likes to call it, is worth the risk.

Please pray my website doesn’t fail due to taking on this topic. My book, The Well: The Art of Drawing Out Authentic Conversations comes out any minute and I really need my website functional.  (To get the news as soon as The Well is available, sign up here.)

The Big P

I hope quotation marks work. Last time we talked about this topic, we changed the Big P-word to purity, but really? People searching for relief from the “porn addiction” epidemic may not think to look for purity first. 

Can you believe it! Folks can put out movies exploiting young girls in dance class, but we can’t talk online about how to reclaim our homes, marriages, children, churches, and communities from the steady stream of Big P saturating our eyes, ears, and hearts? Really?

Give me a break. I’m so pleased to bring you the story and wisdom of a champion in the Fight For Love. Rosie knows what it takes to free our families of all the problems associated with “porn addiction.” 

We are fighting back. If you thought you were alone, no way! TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE.

Cathy Krafve, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, and author of The Well: The Art of Drawing Out Authentic Conversations , invites your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. Truth with a Texas Twang.