Welcome to The Lionhearted, a podcast featuring stories by the brave and badass people who spend their lives fighting the one thing absolutely no one wants to talk about—child sexual abuse. And that's why we call them the lionhearted.
In this episode our guest is child abuse expert Monica Borunda who is a licensed therapist, Professor of Child Abuse, Trauma, Law and Ethics at Cal State LA, and especially important for this conversation, she is a veteran forensic interviewer.
We will get into what a forensic interviewer does, but in short, forensic interviewers are trained to interview children (and adults with disabilities), who are suspected to have been abused, in a way that is trauma informed, developmentally and culturally appropriate, child-centered, non leading and legally defensible.
Monica has over 17 years experience and has conducted over 1600 forensic interviews. She shares the stories she cannot forget and the important lessons she has learned that will help you listeners better protect kids.
Trigger Warning:
Please note that this episode contains depictions of sexual violence that some people may find disturbing. If any of the content in this podcast has brought anything up for you, please reach out or speak to someone you trust.
Darkness to Light, a leading nonprofit focused on child sexual abuse prevention, also provides links to resources for support. Full disclosure: Andrea Harner is currently Board Chairperson of Darkness to Light.
Email us your thoughts!
lionheartedpod@gmail.com
Host: Andrea Harner
Guest: Monica Borunda
Producer: Andrea Harner and Amanda Kelso
Editing: Kevin Tosi
Show resources:
- The Center for Connection, Monica Borunda
- Trauma Proofing Your Kids by Peter Levine, Maggie Kline
- Being the Safe Adult resource by Darkness to Light
- Talk to Kids about Body Safety and Boundaries resource by Darkness to Light
- Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) Model Explained by National Children’s Alliance
- Darkness to Light National and State Resources
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