Emily Bernath: Sexual Assault Survivor
/Emily Bernath is an author, a spiritual leader, and a sexual assault survivor.
She shares all the pieces of her story in her books & with other women so that they might know their worth in Christ, no matter what has happened in their past.
In our chat, Emily reminds us that our identity is 100% rooted in God, in who He made us to be.
Here are a few things I’ve learned over the last 5 years:
Generational trauma can be passed down on the DNA.
All the eggs a woman will hold are formed in her uterus when she’s in her mother’s uterus.
Shame, worthlessness, and guilt can be learned behaviors and don’t have to be associated with anything actually shame-worthy.
13 out of 17 women in my bloodline, between my generation and my great-grandmother’s generation, have been physically and/or sexually assaulted.
When I put all this knowledge together, here’s what I get:
The shame, worthlessness, and guilt I and the women in my family feel have been passed down from generation to generation to generation. It has literally been a part of me and other women in my family for more than 100 years.
But guess what? That’s not mine to keep. That is ugly baggage that someone mistakenly asked me to hold, and I don’t have to hold it anymore.
I’ve had my daughter as a part of me for 38 years. She will know better because not only will I teach her better, but I will LIVE better and ACT better, because now I KNOW better.
The beautiful, strong, tender women in my family have done the best they could with what they had and with what they knew. They are fighters, they are warriors, they are believers, they are mine. I love them. I honor them.
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Listen in to Emily’s generous wisdom as she shares how she moved forward after an unexpected and traumatic sexual assault.
Show notes
Broken Lenses: Volume 1
Broken Lenses: Volume 2
Emily Bernath (website)
Emily Bernath on Instagram
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