Sexual abuse leaves spiritual wounds. Here are some resources that can help.

An article today on the Catholic news website Crux, "In wake of Weinstein abuse scandal, Catholics call Church to leadership," features quotes from me about what the Church can do to help abuse victims heal.

If you or a loved one seek healing from the spiritual wounds of abuse, here are some resources from my writings and apostolate:

Remembering God's Mercy is my newest book and is for anyone seeking healing from the effects of past trauma — not only those who have suffered sexual abuse but also veterans, people in recovery, and anyone who needs help seeing God's goodness in the wake of experiences of evil. Because its spirituality draws primarily from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, it is especially helpful for readers who are making a spiritual retreat. Fr. James Kubicki, S.J., says of Remembering God's Mercy, "This is an exceptional book. In her usual highly readable and storytelling style, Dawn Eden helps us understand the Ignatian spirituality of Pope Francis, as well as how and why suffering can be ‘redemptive.’ Remembering God’s Mercy breaks new ground and adds significantly to works about healing from trauma and the painful memories that follow. One quotation sums it up: ‘when I unite my own wounded heart with the wounded and glorified heart of Jesus, his wounds heal mine.'"

My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints is the most popular Catholic resource for readers seeking spiritual healing from sexual abuse. This is the book for people who want to know, not merely if there were saints who suffered sexual abuse, but if the saints truly knew the pain of the misplaced guilt and shame that accompanies such abuse. Moreover, I show in My Peace I Give You how such saints found healing through uniting their wounds with the glorified wounds of the risen Christ.

One characteristic of both Remembering God's Mercy and My Peace I Give You is that I offer an alternative and more traditional Ignatian form of prayer for people who have not been helped by newer, Pentecostal/charismatic-type "inner healing" or "Theophostic" approaches. Here is a brief video in which I discuss why I believe the Ignatian approach is superior:



More videos of me discussing healing are available on the Dawn Patrol's Video page.

Likewise, on The Dawn Patrol's Audio/Podcasts page, you will find several talks and interviews in which I speak about healing from the wounds of trauma and abuse. Among the best is the interview that Alison Gingras did with me for her Reconciled to You program:



I have given many talks to priests on ministry to the abused and would like to continue to do so. If you would like to bring me to speak to priests or other pastoral caregivers, or to a lay audience, please email me at dawneden [at] gmail.com (replace the [at] with @).