73. Merle Yost: From an Unimaginable Childhood to an Uncompromising Dedication to Helping Others
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Release Date: 02/20/2024
175. Amy Watson & HASSL: What You Allow Is What Continues
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
There are some episodes of this show that don’t revolve around a single survivor story, but they still land just as hard—because they force us to look at ourselves. This is one of those conversations. It’s not about recounting trauma; it’s about what allows harm to keep happening in everyday spaces, and what it actually takes to interrupt that. This episode asks questions most people would rather avoid, and it does so in a way that’s direct, practical, and impossible to brush off. My conversation with Amy Watson was exactly that kind of dialogue. We talked about prevention,...
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174. Gemini: First the Assault. Then Saprea.
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
There’s a distinctive aspect to this show that makes it different from most podcasts in this genre, and I consider it a privilege and honor to recognize those of you who make it that way. Sexual Assault Survivor Stories is not built around celebrity guests, polished talking points, or rehearsed narratives. It exists because of something far more rare and far more meaningful—trust. Again and again, people who begin as listeners reach out, not to be heard for the sake of attention, but because they’re finally ready to speak their truth in a space that feels safe enough to hold it. What...
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173. Beth: When “Normal” was Actually Rape and Sexual Assault
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Beth is a survivor who reached out to me after realizing that memories she once believed were long buried were anything but inconsequential. As she explains, those memories began resurfacing as she engaged in EMDR—Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing—with her therapist, opening the door to a deeper understanding of what she had endured. (It’s amazing what a good sexual assault/rape therapist can do for clients!) Beth shares her experience inside a coercive and controlling relationship that ultimately included rape, and how that environment systematically eroded her self-image,...
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172. Erica: When a Husband’s Power Became Sexual Violence
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
In this episode I sit down with Erica, a survivor whose experience exposes the devastating reality of coercive control, rape, and sexual assault within a marriage. Erica reached out to share not only what she endured, but the long and difficult process of recognizing abuse, breaking free from it, and beginning her healing journey. This conversation examines how power and control can operate quietly and persistently—how manipulation, exploitation, and sexual violence are often obscured by relationship roles, social expectations, and silence. Erica speaks candidly about what it took to escape...
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171. Dave Markel: When Showing Up Means Slowing Down
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Today, this episode is a brief reflection from me, recorded as a pause in the regular rhythm of the show. Rather than a guest interview, I’m speaking directly to you, my listeners, about the weight of trauma-informed work, the importance of rest, and what it means to show up honestly when the work feels heavy. For survivors, professionals, and advocates alike, this episode is a reminder that healing is not linear, strength is not measured by endurance alone, and slowing down is sometimes the most responsible choice. Regular guest episodes of Sexual Assault Survivor Stories will resume next...
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170. What Stayed With Us: The Conversations From 2025 We Couldn’t Shake
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
As this year comes to a close, I wanted to take a moment to pause and reflect, not with a countdown or a highlight reel, but with intention. This episode brings together a handful of powerful moments from conversations released in 2025 that truly captured what Sexual Assault Survivor Stories is about: survivor courage, hard truths, clarity around trauma, and the willingness to sit with conversations that don’t offer easy answers. The clips you’ll hear were chosen using a hybrid approach—listener engagement, impact, and significance. They include moments from conversations with Rachel...
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169. Shannon Porter: "What They Don’t Say" Is in The House...and The Social Media Reels People Can’t Ignore
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
I’m happy to announce that I’m joined once again by Shannon Porter, host and co-founder of the What They Don’t Say podcast. Shannon returns to talk about the evolution of her work, her growing presence on social media, and what’s driving her to speak more openly, and more frequently, about the realities of surviving rape and sexual assault. Our conversation centers on the reels and posts Shannon is producing to help shed light on what survivors face every day: how people respond when a survivor shares their story, the misunderstandings that follow trauma, and the emotional labor...
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168. Marina Lacerda: When Epstein Power, Money, and Rape Collided — and She Survived
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
For decades, Marina was known only as “Minor Victim-1” in legal documents — a label that stripped away her humanity while protecting those responsible. In this conversation, Marina reclaims what was taken from her: her voice, her story, and her identity. She speaks not just about what happened, but about what it costs to survive abuse at that scale — the trauma that lingers, the mistrust that settles in the body, and the long road back to agency and truth. This episode is not sensational, and it is not speculative. It is grounded in lived experience and courageous truth-telling....
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167. Erin Williamson: Love146 — Pulling Children Back from the Darkness
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Erin Williamson joins me for an incredibly important conversation about her work with Love146, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children from human trafficking and walking alongside young survivors on their path to healing. Erin shares what this work truly looks like — not the headlines, but the day-to-day reality of survivor care, long-term recovery, and prevention education — and how essential it is to understand trafficking as a real issue affecting real children in communities across the country. We discuss the profound impact trafficking has on children’s brains,...
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166. Jason Patrick Berry: Secrets Beneath a Perfect Childhood
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
This week on Sexual Assault Survivor Stories, I sit down with Jason Patrick Berry, author of the brave and unflinchingly honest memoir Secrets Beneath. Jason’s story is one that quietly breaks your heart and then slowly helps rebuild it. On the outside, his childhood looked perfectly normal, even picturesque. But behind closed doors lived a painful reality of abuse, secrecy, and survival that no child should ever have to experience. In Secrets Beneath, Jason pulls back that veil and walks us through the lasting impact of trauma, including post trauma stress, anxiety, and emotional...
info_outlineActivation and discretion warning: This episode contains explicit and graphic descriptions of physical assault, animal abuse, sexual assault, and rape. Caution and discretionary action are required. This episode is not for children. Please use extreme self-care in listening to this episode and if you are activated or triggered and need help, call the national sexual assault telephone hotline at 1-800.656.hope; that’s 1-800-656-4673.
A little bit about my guest this week, Merle Yost:
Merle Yost is a psychotherapist, author of six books, and teacher. His last book is Facing the Truth of Your Life, and he is here promoting his new workshop series, Seven Steps to Powerful Boundaries. He has been a private practice therapist for over 30 years and specializes in trauma, particularly for men sexually abused as children. He is an Approved Consultant in EMDR, a San Francisco Gestalt Institute graduate, has a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology: Transpersonal Specialization, and a B.A. in Management. Merle loves to discuss the positive changes that his workshop series makes in many people's lives.
This is one of those “hold-on-to-your-hat!” episodes…on several levels! Merle Yost is my guest this week, and he ranks up there as one of the most accomplished professionals I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing and getting to know about his truly mind-blowing life-story. First just let me tell you that Merle dedicated his adult life to becoming educated and skilled at learning the intricate understandings of the human mind and behaviors. The amazing aspect of this achievement is that he did so despite what many people would have considered a future-ending childhood filled with a tremendous amount of physical, emotional, and sexual pain and assault from his father… despite enduring a cult-like childhood of emotional turmoil and abuse from his mother…despite the emotional turmoil of spending much of his youth and young adulthood in a dissociative state. And all the while, suffering from the confusing and embarrassing condition of gynecomastia, which he knew nothing about; only that it brought on an immense amount of teasing and physical abuse.
After hearing Merle’s story, you would think that the chances of succeeding in life and accomplishing the dream of becoming a psychotherapist and a marriage and family therapist, as well as an expert in gynecomastia who could help others through their own confusion and shame, would be next to nil. But Merle faced the horror and pain of his childhood and young adulthood, and persevered. He went on to open a psychotherapy practice which became full, almost immediately. He wrote 6 books, several of which became best-sellers. He’s writing his seventh book now. And he wrote, produced, and launched an online video workshop entitled “Seven Steps to Powerful Boundaries.” And he’s now writing his seventh book—a memoire.
There’s nothing about Merle that won’t impress and astound you. He’s amazing. And I’m honored to call him friend, and honored that he agreed to be on this show! I hope you’ll listen to this episode, and then that you’ll tell everyone you know that they should listen to it, too! I’m very convinced you won’t be disappointed or sorry that you did! There’s healing in his story for everyone!
Here are some ways to learn more about Merle, to subscribe to his video workshop series, and to buy his books:
Business Name: Merle Yost, LMFT/Unspoken Boundaries
Website: https://
Link to Book on Amazon, Facing the Truth of Your Life: https://a.co/d/eIMutmF
LinkedIn: https://www.
Instagram: Unspoken Boundaries®️ (@unspokenboundaries)
Additional Website: https://merleyost.com/
Additional links I hope you’ll check out:
https://startbybelieving.org
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