A Deep Dive Into #MeToo Founder Tarana Burke’s Digital Platform for Sexual Assault Survivors

Therapy is great. I’m a long-time consumer and fan. I can truthfully say that without my therapist, I could never have dreamt of healing from my childhood trauma and neglect. But, therapy isn’t always an option for everyone due to a number of factors including finances, location, or the lack of availability of a qualified therapist. For these individuals, alternatives like Tarana Burke’s new community Survivor’s Sanctuary can be powerful resources for finding the support one needs and deserves.

• What is PTSD?

For anyone who doesn’t know Tarana Burke, she is the founder of the #MeToo movement and author of the New York Times Bestseller “Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement,” which happens to be one of my favorite memoirs of all time. This new platform is a fully self-guided healing process for survivors of sexual violence. The healing lessons are built on the concept of post-traumatic growth and they are divided into three sections — mind, body, and integrative — each designed to isolate unique aspects of healing. Exercises are offered in five-minute, 15-minute, or 25-minute increments so a user can decide how much time they have or are wanting to commit on any given day to the program.

“Me too. International believes that healing is an action word. It does not speak to a plateau point but rather an ongoing process grounding and reconnecting to one’s body, one’s sense of self power; one’s relationship to others and reconnecting with one’s past and future. Thus, healing is intentional, iterative, and intergenerational. Our theory of healing centers growth, post-trauma and the choice to heal.”

The website is the first of its kind and it has the potential to be a real game changer for those seeking diverse ways to heal from sexual trauma. The website does, however, include a liability disclaimer stating that the information provided on this site is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for medical advice. It also has a clear notice regarding seeking medical consultation before engaging in the body exercises, cautions against discontinuing any medication while working through the program, and acknowledges that there is no guarantee of a positive outcome.

With that said, I spent several days exploring the program top to bottom and went through each and every exercise to orient myself with the way in which the program works. Before I talk about my findings, I’d like to state that it is my strongly held belief that engaging in this kind of work if you are in the “crisis” or “emergency” phase of trauma could be dangerous and retraumatizing. If you are actively in the process of recalling memories, dissociative, experiencing frequent flashbacks, having night terrors or are otherwise emotionally deregulated, or are having thoughts of self-harm or suicide, you need to do trauma work within the safe containment of a qualified trauma therapist’s office. This in no way is a commentary on the utility or efficacy of this platform, but rather a word of caution from someone who has been in that state and understands the dangers of not having a container for what may come up.

I found this site to be extremely well conceived, researched, executed, and easy to navigate, although some of the features, like the “Healing Room” and a few of the exercises were not accessible or glitchy via a mobile device. There is also a comprehensive glossary of terms that is extremely helpful for psychoeducation and all of the videos are relevant and informative. Additionally, it has always been Tarana Burke’s mission with #MeToo to focus specifically on marginalized communities, particularly women of color, and this is reflected throughout the content of the site.

There are two built-in security mechanisms to help address a user becoming flooded or otherwise overwhelmed by an exercise. First, each page has a “Safety Exit” shortcut that will immediately abort the program if you need to stop urgently. The second is more of a modulated calming space called the “Healing Room,” which offers a number of self-soothing options to click on including guided meditations, healing playlists, journaling prompts, and other activities. Almost every item in the room will link to an activity and right in the center of the screen is a note stating, “You are enough,” reinforcing the self-compassion focus that weaves throughout the exercises on the site.

Mind

The site suggests beginning your journey with the mind exercises, which are designed to help access patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The hope is that, like with talk therapy, the user will begin to become aware of their triggers and the impact of trauma on relationships. Its basic philosophy utilizes the tenets or “cognitive distortions” associated with faulty thinking which are at the core of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

Exercises include a gratitude practice, learning meditation, exploring affirmations, exploring your identity, creating a joy journal, body awareness, discovering pleasure, shifting automatic thoughts, working with triggers and nervous system responses, evaluating self-talk, and dealing with guilt and shame. Many of these exercises are ones I have done within the context of my own trauma therapy and have found quite useful in challenging my own pervasive negative thought patterns.

My only critique about this section is that CBT may not be enough to address the myriad of pervasive symptoms associated with chronic, repeated trauma experienced throughout childhood. These individuals may need more support and the presence of a safe individual to explore their trauma and help them get to the point where the mind exercises would be effective. Additionally, the section would benefit from an exercise focusing on identifying feelings. Many trauma survivors check out during their abuse or assault, and as a result have great difficulty identifying what they are feeling. Incorporating a feelings chart and perhaps a feelings tracking protocol would be a useful addition.

Body

The second approach to healing is the body section, which explores the fundamental ways in which our bodies are affected by and integrally connected to what is going on in our minds. Anyone who has heard of Bessel van der Kolk’s book “The Body Keeps the Score” will resonate with the focus and exercises in this section. It has been well established that many trauma survivors could benefit from some somatic work to help move difficult feelings out of stuck points within our bodies, thereby promoting deeper and longer lasting healing. This is especially important for survivors of sexual violence who have had the control over their bodies subsumed and who often struggle with remaining present in their bodies.

Exercises in this section include learning to breathe, a grounding technique called “5-4-3-2-1,” EFT tapping, moving your body, compassionate self-touch, progressive muscle relaxation, Qigong, guided meditation, and yoga. I went through each of the exercises and found some easier to do and more comfortable than others, but that reflects my own journey with being comfortable staying present within my body.

This section is probably the one users will find the hardest to begin with until they have done enough work with not getting emotionally deregulated. I also think this section will be the greatest asset to anyone using it as an adjunct to more traditional trauma or talk therapy. While some clinicians are trained in somatic approaches, it isn’t standard yet, so having an alternative space to turn to to help fill that gap, like this one, is a great option.

One word of advice: I’d recommend watching the videos in each section before actually engaging in the exercises. This will allow you to assess your readiness both physically and emotionally to undertake the exercise, particularly the more physically active ones like yoga.

Integrative

This is the section where mind and body are brought together to explore practices designed to focus on presence, embodiment, skill integration, spiritual practices, and the whole body. Exercises include exploring acupressure and neurovascular points, humming and rocking, mindful journaling, Earth touching practice, creating a sanctuary plan, learning about boundaries, creating and using an intention altar, creating a calming glitter jar, body awareness and nourishing, learning how to stay rooted, creating a healing zine, and a deep dive into pleasure.

Full confession, as someone who is on the agnostic side of things and isn’t overly comfortable with activities that are focused on spirituality, a couple of these exercises were not my personal cup of tea, but would be wonderful for many people I know who are survivors of sexual trauma and are deeply spiritual. However, I loved the artistic exercises like the glitter jar and the healing zine. I also think the boundaries and pleasure exercises are critical to healing from trauma and are exercises I will revisit over and over again until they fully sink in.

In summary, if you are a survivor of sexual violence, or any trauma really, this site is a fantastic alternative resource for healing. It does require a bit of self-discipline and motivation to move through, but since it’s designed to be taken at your own pace, there’s no hurry to plow through it. The exercises do build on one another, but you don’t absolutely have to do them in order. You can pick and choose what you feel ready to tackle or what you think would be most beneficial on any given day. Trauma robs us of our agency and autonomy. The design of this program is deliberately aimed at providing a survivor with both of those things, making it a brilliant resource for those who are ready to reclaim their lives after trauma.

To learn more or start your journey today, visit Survivor’s Sanctuary.