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	SNAP and Me Surviving Therapist Abuse August 14, 2009 http://survivingtherapistabuse.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/snap-and-me/ After posting the Angela Shelton trailer, I found out that she was a speaker at the SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) National Conference. You can download a copy of the SNAP 2009 Conference program here and on my Articles & Publications page. The program has notes on the speakers and includes some great resources. I like to plug SNAP because I've received a lot of support from them. When my attorney, Joe George, and I decided to move forward with a press release, he hooked me up with David Clohessy, SNAP's National Director. David is a PR wiz, and when I read his first draft for our press release I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. David calls a spade a spade and doesn't pull any punches, and I love that! What he wrote provided me with a desperately needed reality check that helped me find my anger and keep fighting the good fight. I've received more validation and understanding from him than I have from anyone other than my subsequent therapists. David "gets" it. And when you're dealing with a kind of abuse that almost no one is talking about, having someone "get it" is an amazing and wonderful thing. David also came up with the plan for the media event we did in June. (See Does Anyone Really Want to Know about Therapist Abuse – Part 1.) I am so grateful to the six wonderful SNAP volunteers who showed up in support, including Melanie and Cappy of Pokrov.org and Michele Betti of the Law Offices of Betti & Franks. A few weeks after the event I went to a local SNAP support group meeting. It was a great experience and I felt comfortable with the people and grateful to be accepted into the community. I've found a lot of similarities between clergy/spiritual abuse and therapist abuse, and I have gotten a lot out of the resources I've found on SNAP and on other spiritual abuse sites. I also enjoyed (okay, maybe enjoyed isn't quite the right word)—I appreciated a couple of clergy abuse documentaries I watched: Deliver Us from Evil and Twist of Faith. Both are available through Netflix and online. SNAP is doing some amazing work out there and many people have found incredible support through this organization. So here's my shout-out to all you SNAP folks!
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