Audra Jennings

Part 2 of an interview with Andrew J. Schmutzer Co-Author of  Naming Our Abuse: God's Pathways to Healing for Male Sexual Abuse Survivors (Click here for part 1) Male sexual abuse is increasingly in the news, from scandals in the Catholic Church to exploitations at Penn State. Yet books and programs about healing are still overwhelmingly oriented toward the female survivor of abuse. As men who experienced childhood abuse, Andrew J. Schmutzer, Daniel A. Gorski and David Carlson, authors of  Naming Our Abuse: God's Pathways to Healing for Male Sexual Abuse Survivors  (Kregel Publications) are uniquely qualified to address the healing process of male survivors. In the book, each author shares his story, modeling for men how telling — and writing — their stories can play a significant role in recovery. “Writing helps the brain process the significance of what happened, not just the fact that it happened,” Schmutzer explains. “Dignity is recaptured by rememb...

Part 1 of an interview with Andrew J. Schmutzer Co-Author of Naming Our Abuse: God's Pathways to Healing for Male Sexual Abuse Survivors From Penn State to the Catholic Church scandal, stories of sexual abuse are covered in the national media, but news reports do not reveal all the facts of how prevalent abuse is among males. “The standard statistic is that one in six boys is sexually abused before the age of 18 ( 1in6.org ). However, Male Survivor recently reported one in four men has been sexually abused,” Andrew J. Schmutzer, co-author of Naming Our Abuse: God's Pathways to Healing for Male Sexual Abuse Survivors (Kregel Publications) , explains. “One thing to understand about these statistics is that they are largely based on self-reporting, so they have been historically hard to come by. As specialists know, men don’t readily talk about their abuse.” Given the staggering statistics, why then does the church seem to be averse to addressing the issue? This w...

Three men share their stories of sexual abuse as an encouragement for others to share theirs From Penn State to the Catholic Church scandal, stories of sexual abuse are covered in the national media, but news reports do not reveal all the facts of how prevalent abuse is among males. “The standard statistic is that one in six boys is sexually abused before the age of 18 ( 1in6.org ). However, Male Survivor recently reported one in four men has been sexually abused,” Andrew J. Schmutzer , co-author of Naming Our Abuse: God's Pathways to Healing for Male Sexual Abuse Survivors (Kregel Publications/April 27, 2016/ISBN: 978-0825444005/$14.99) , explains. “One thing to understand about these statistics is that they are largely based on self-reporting, so they have been historically hard to come by. As specialists know, men don’t readily talk about their abuse.” Given the staggering statistics, why then does the church seem to be averse to addressing the issue? This was th...