YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Sold by her mother to a pedophile ring led by powerful politicians and aristocrats in her native Belgium, Anneke’s story is about more than just survival. She talks about the ways her PTSD affects her life but also about the empathy she learned at a young age that inspires her to teach yoga in prisons, especially fellow survivors of sex-trafficking.

Click here to watch a documentary about Anneke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ldOovQa9Iw

Visit the website for her foundation http://LiberationPrisonYoga.com

Visit her Facebook page

- See more at: http://mentalpod.com/Pedophile-Ring-Sur ... DFeKJ.dpuf

i think this episode is amazing, she is an amazing lady who has so much compation and empathy for other people.

I had to pause this episode several times, Anneke's story was so overwhelming. The grace and courage that she shows is just incredible. I am definitely going to have to look into donating to her prison program.

Her Facebook page is very inspirational she does an amazing job.

This interview... wow, thank you to both for creating lives that facilitated this honest and insightful conversation.

Anneke, thank you also for going deep into the process of healing, for becoming a student of healing, and sharing your insights. Some things that really stunned me and I've been thinking about for several days:
- the connection between trauma and victimizers. You framed it in a way that felt like a brand new idea. Not sure I understand it more than that, yet.
- that babies and children need and deserve to be seen as innocent. This feels like something I could continue to unwrap and unwrap over time. I can still feel the child inside me who is pleading, "but... I'm not bad! I was trying to follow the rules as I understood them!"
- that being a great parent at one age does not necessarily mean you won't get triggered when your child hits the age where you had trauma/hard times. My son is 2, and I feel like a great mom. Your insight showed me that I have urgent work to do to prepare for when he is elementary age (when I felt neglected/invisible) and high school age (when I felt like the object of hyper focus and control).

Not sure if you are reading this, but Anneke my heart gushes for your caretaker who showed you love during your earliest years. That love continues to bear fruit, for you and for the lives you touch. Thanks also for sharing your story publicly and for your yoga outreach.

This is the episode that got me re-obsessed with the podcast after a couple of years long hiatus. Such a beautiful person. Her story is so heavy that if it were anyone else I might not believe parts of it, but the way she spoke and made me feel I have no problem believing every word. I just want to hug her, not even because I feel bad for what she went through just for the purely selfish reason that she sounds so warm and so kind and I want to connect with someone like that. Definitely one of the best episodes of 2015.

I want to be this woman when I grow - up - I can learn so much from her - I personally need spiritual healing - which is what helped her through - my experience warped my spritual trust and that makes it so hard to go back into it - because triggers are words that religion uses all the time - but she has such grace with her triggers and with her life - I am in awe

The whole Jeffrey Epstein saga reminded me of this episode. Terrible stuff, glad at least something of a light is being shone on it.

I just listened to this episode for the first time this morning and I'm still reeling from it a bit. I was _not_ in exactly the same experience (sold into the sex trade) but a lot of her descriptions about how being sexualized at such a young age and the ripples in later life really resonated with me a lot. I also was really struck by her discussion of the anger she has expressed toward her daughter and how she believes it is a manifestation of being angry with her own younger self at the same age. That hit me like a brick.

I have so much about this episode to process because it hit so close to home and that's why I love this podcast. I can listen to any episode, regardless of the topic, and walk away with much more knowledge and perspective.