In this episode, the RAFT team is joined by survivor, author, and advocate Emily Bernath. She shares her survivor story, how she healed through spirituality, and how that led to her book series, Broken Lenses.

Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions about sexual violence and assault, including personal survivor experiences. We encourage you to prioritize your well-being while listening.

Episode Time Codes

• 00:00 Intro


• 00:25 Trigger Warning


• 00:55 Gratitudes


• 05:00 Who is Emily Bernath?


• 06:55 How Emily’s writing started


• 09:30 Emily discusses levels of healing through her advocacy journey


• 15:15 “How do you know that it’s love?” — How did you know who to trust through this journey


• 16:15 “Coincidences don’t just happen” – Emily speaks about faith leading her journey


• 19:10 “Freedom brings healing”


• 21:10 “The world hasn’t given survivors a lot of hope to report”


• 21:30 How Emily knew she was being sexually assaulted


• 23:15 “As soon as a survivor comes to me – the one thing I can not do is nothing”


• 25:38 Emily shares how she found her trust in her faith


• 33:05 “What do you believe is the biggest challenge in the sv/dv field?”


• 39:00 Emily speaks on trusting and obeying the voice of God.


• 46:15 Emily discusses a peak point of advocacy


• 49:50 Emily discusses her books.


• 52:55 Should everyone write/share their story?


• 57:10 Emily tells us more about her social work/grad school journey


• 1:00:55 “How do you stay healthy and balanced?”


• 1:03:35 Nicole talks about leaning into our strengths & Emily shares her individual strengths


• 1:11:00 What’s in the future for Emily?


• 1:12:55 Appreciations


• 1:14:35 Outro