You can only outrun trauma for so long. Beth found that out the hard way, as one does. After leaving the cult, instinct drove her to make up for lost time. She hit the ground running, earning her university degree, launching her teaching career, finding a husband, and starting a family. As anyone who's been raised to believe they are sinful and worthless, she became a chronic overachiever. Everything seemed perfect until it wasn't. The first cracks appeared with her worsening eating disorder, which began when she was first put on a diet by the cult leaders at age five. Therapy and meds helped, but were kind of like applying a band aid to a gaping, festering wound. 

Six years after escaping Grenville Christian College, the elite private boarding school went bankrupt. Beth was caught off guard by the ensuing uproar from formerly abused students who poured out their pain in online forums. Understanding dawned as she realized that she had been raised in a cult. Finally, her crushing anxiety, bulimia and relentless nightmares started to make sense. 

When the school leaders refused to acknowledge wrongdoing and systemic abuse, Beth helped launch a class action on behalf of 1400 students who had boarded at Grenville Christian College during its most abusive years. She agreed to be a representative plaintiff, with no idea how difficult the journey would be. Over the next 16 years she would face trials, losses and challenges that would bring her to her knees. It wasn’t until her ability to cope finally fell to pieces, that Beth took leave from teaching to recover from decades of unprocessed trauma. Writing her memoir played an essential part in her healing journey. Beth is committed to turn her pain into purpose and hopes that her writing will help those with Complex PTSD, eating disorders or religious trauma on their own paths to healing.