The Shushbox

In this week's episode we are joined by Lauren-Eden Penn, a survivor of childhood sexual trauma at the hands of her HIV positive father. Lauren is a mother and business owner who has recently waived her right to anonymity to speak out about her story in the hopes to inspire and support other survivors. She also recently went viral on TikTok after sharing her story in light of the recent overturning of Roe Vs Wade in the US and changes to abortion laws. "For those that may not have seen the recent trend on TikTok, thousands of people are sharing their personal traumatic sexual experiences, followed by the words ‘Keep your laws off our bodies’, to illustrate how, in many cases abortions may well be necessary. My TikTok featured the words ‘Have you ever lost your virginity at the age of 14 to your HIV+ Father? What’d you say? Oh you haven’t? 'Keep your laws off our bodies’ I decided to participate in the trend after another girl's video came up on my For You page."While the issue began in America, Lauren strongly feels that the problem is not limited to those across the pond. "Although I don’t reside in the US, I felt it was important to speak up on the issue and use my voice to show support and stand in solidarity with every woman in the US who could be affected by the harmful effects of overturning Roe v Wade," she said. - Words via Dorset Live article here. As a society, by avoiding the subject of child sexual abuse we run the risk of normalising it and many survivors are then left feeling isolated in their experiences; Lauren's courage in coming forward and speaking out about her story aims to change this. For more information find Lauren via Instagram and TikTok with handle @LozCreates

In this week's episode of The Shushbox podcast we are joined by former school teacher, principal, and survivor of early childhood trauma, Lynn Barrett. In 1992 Lynn was diagnosed with MPD (multiple personality disorder) which later was diagnosed as DID (disassociation identity disorder.) In this episode, Lynn talks about her life with early childhood trauma and how she survived and pushed through despite being exposed to abuse at such a young age. Lynn talks about her experiences growing up with DID and how common it is in young children who have been abused in the past. She now helps those who are diagnosed with DID or MPD navigate life through the eyes of someone who has brought light from her own diagnosis. She runs weekly dissociative disorder writing writing workshops which can be found here and has also released her memoir entitled - 'Crazy - Reclaiming Life from the Shadow of Traumatic Memory' which can be found here. Lynn speaks extensively on perseverance and how people with DID can navigate relationships, work, friendships, etc through footwork and an open heart. She instills the importance of having a good therapist and support network whilst going on the healing journey. “Just the very fact that you survived this chronic abuse, means you have the strength, and wisdom, and resilience inside you that you don’t know you have yet. I hope that in hopes of sharing my story, that it gives some people the courage to share theirs too so we can de stigmatise this disorder"For the latest Shushbox content sign up to our newsletter via www.shushbox.comThe Shushbox Podcast is Produced by Aamir Yaqub at Bison Studios, London, UK

This week we are joined by Dr. Heidi Brocke, a Toxic Relationship Awareness & Healing Specialist. She has turned her past into her passion as she provides hope, healing, and freedom to those whose lives have been affected by toxic relationships, emotional abuse, and narcissistic behaviours. She has been featured in both Forbes and Time Magazines for the dedication given to her clients and her work in the toxic relationship area. She is also the host of the podcast 'It's not normal it's toxic'."As an emotional abuse graduate, I know what it feels like to be alone, to be the only one who saw what was really going on, and to be the one who felt like something was wrong with me. Living and being in relationships that are not healthy for us can cause this type of abuse to be accepted as “normal”. TRUTH IS...ITS NOT NORMAL... ITS TOXIC! Having been in toxic relationships myself, I am now able to use my experience to guide those walking a similar path to my own."For more information on how to work with Dr Heidi head to www.coachingwithdrheidi.com.For the latest Shushbox content sign up to our newsletter via www.shushbox.comThe Shushbox Podcast is Produced by Aamir Yaqub at Bison Studios, London, UK

Vanessa Cuccia is an artist, author, entrepreneur and founder of Chakrubs, the Original Crystal Sex Toy Company. "Chakrubs are sex toys made from natural crystal that bring a sense of sacredness to your playtime. These beautiful, hand-crafted tools are created with the intention of opening oneself up to the healing properties crystals provide. Crystals have perfect molecular structures that have positive effects on our electro-magnetic fields. When our energetic bodies are at ease, we are at ease, we are open to healing, to peace, to love, to all of life's pleasures.‘Chakrubs’ derives from Chakra, a Sanskrit word describing energy wheels. Chakrubs urge you to feel deeply, passionately, subtly. Light up your chakras, and create an intentional practice that that not only gets you off, but turns you on in way in which you will remain turned on and awakened with a renewed sense of self-awareness and wisdom."In this episode we talk about Vanessa's journey to the creation of Chakrubs and how it is deeply rooted and integrated with her own personal story of healing from an abusive relationship. The mission of Chakrubs is to create connection to others through connection with the self and is the general theme we follow throughout our conversation. We discuss and dissect the ideas of self pleasure and how sexual energy is something innately present within us all, which can be activated when we approach 'sex' as a true mind, body and spirit experience. Vanessa speaks also about her plans for the future, both with Chakrubs and in her own personal passion projects. Vanessa's music can also be found here. For more information about Chakrubs head to www.chakrubs.comFor the latest Shushbox content sign up to our newsletter via www.shushbox.comThe Shushbox Podcast is Produced by Aamir Yaqub at Bison Studios, London, UK

Jeremy Indika is Child abuse prevention activist, public speaker, survivor and founder of Something To Say’."My name is Jeremy Indika and I raise awareness for child sexual abuse by sharing my story and discussing the subject in the most creative ways that I can think of. I use film, animation and illustration in an attempt to engage this audience on this very difficult subject, andhopefully bring more awareness to it. I want to break the silence and I believe it's possible."In this episode we talk through Jeremy's experience as a survivor of child sexual abuse and his journey to becoming an advocate and now speaking out publicly about his experiences.  We explore ways in which we, as a society, can prevent childhood sexual abuse, through early conversation/education and better depiction of such cases in the media. You can find Jeremy on the below links:Website: https://jeremyindika.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeM5j3x68j8gq3MHPSLzjmQInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyindika/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeremyindika1LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-indika-31673573/Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyindikaTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyindikaFor the latest Shushbox content sign up to our newsletter via www.shushbox.comThe Shushbox Podcast is Produced by Aamir Yaqub at Bison Studios, London, UK

A wife, mother, and native of Buffalo, NY, Dr. Candice Cooper-Lovett is a licensed marriage and family therapist and sex therapist. She is also a consultant, writer, and AAMFT Clinical Fellow & Approved Supervisor. Dr. Cooper-Lovett has over 15 years of experience working with individuals, couples, and families.  She is the owner and CEO of A New Creation Psychotherapy Services, LLC a holistic group practice in Fayetteville, GA. She fuses both psychotherapy and spirituality into her work and has also recently launched The Tantric MFT. In this episode we discuss why do perpetrators do what they do as we delve into some of Dr Candice Cooper-Lovett experiences working with offenders during the rehabilitation processes. Whilst this conversation or work is not easy, Dr Candice Cooper-Lovett leads with compassion and talks of the impact preventative measures and rehabilitation can have within society and for survivors. For the latest Shushbox content sign up to our newsletter via www.shushbox.comThe Shushbox Podcast is Produced by Aamir Yaqub at Bison Studios, London, UK 

This week we sat down with In this episode we are joined by Annie Wade Smith to talk about survivors within the LGBTQ+ community and the need for representation and support of this group. Annie speaks openly on her channels about Mental Health & Self Acceptance, the LGBTQ+ community and is also an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA). Annie helps to educate the justice system on LGBTQ+ cases as well as on why many people within this community may not report, due to status of being out etc. In this episode we discuss the need for additional support for the queer community and raise awareness to the discriminations that are common within LGBTQ+ cases of sexual abuse.   The conversation about queer survivors is surface level and deserves to be spoken about more. Galop have now also released their research paper on queer survivors. https://galop.org.uk/resource/lgbt-people-sexual-violence-report/ For the latest Shushbox content sign up to our newsletter via www.shushbox.comThe Shushbox Podcast is Produced by Aamir Yaqub at Bison Studios, London, UK

Jimanekia Eborn is a trauma specialist, sex educator with a decade of experience in mental health work and also the founder of Tending The Garden.  'BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ identities have often been left out of the mainstream coverage of sexual assault. Tending the Garden was founded as a space to harness healing and support and place the experience and needs of these identities at the forefront of recovery work around sexual assault.'In this episode of The Shushbox Podcast Jimanekia speaks on the importance of having people who “look like you” in survivor communities so that survivor’s feelings and issues are not discredited with biased opinions. We talk also about the different types of marginalized groups and how they are underrepresented as well as how Jimanekia started her very own survivor’s group to represent these groups. For the latest Shushbox content sign up to our newsletter via www.shushbox.comThe Shushbox Podcast is Produced by Aamir Yaqub at Bison Studios, London, UK

Melissa Schuman is an American singer and actress best known for her role in the all-girl teen band Dream and their platinum hit "He Loves U Not". Her acting success includes appearances in movies, including Love Don't Cost a Thing, The Hollow and Silent Scream.  Melissa is also a survivor of sexual assault and came publicly forward with her story at the height of the Me Too Movement in 2017. In this episode, we discuss her experience of being a survivor in the spotlight and how it affected her both privately and publicly. We also discuss the importance of having community whilst on the healing journey. For the latest Shushbox content sign up to our newsletter via www.shushbox.comThe Shushbox Podcast is Produced by Aamir Yaqub at Bison Studios, London, UK