88. Laurie McBride: Her Evolving Light, From Desperation to Providing Aspiration

Laurie McBride was sexually assaulted by her brother when she was a young girl. She was also emotionally abused by her mother while growing up, and then when she was in high school, she was the victim of two separate rape attempts. By the time Laurie was 18 and left home, she felt lost. In a situation like Laurie's, it isn't difficult to understand how her worldview would be skewed. She felt she had no real choices in life and decided that killing herself would be the best way out. Fortunately, Laurie had a change of heart and decided she wanted to live. But life didn't get much easier…she found herself in an abusive marriage which ended in divorce and now she was a single mom with small children to raise. Turning to alcohol and pills to self-medicate, Laurie found herself spiraling towards addiction; that is, until a neighbor's house fire made her realize that she was putting her children's lives at risk by abusing alcohol and drugs. She decided she could no longer live that way. Laurie dumped the alcohol and trashed the pills. Then she put herself on a path of education, and eventually found her way to helping others through providing hospice care, then eventually by counseling others who had become addicted to alcohol and drugs. She felt she had found her calling, and to this day is still counseling people who find their lives in turmoil due to drugs and alcohol, or because of interpersonal violence, sexual assault, or other types of traumas. Laurie turned her life from hopelessness to helpfulness. Her educational background includes: an Associate of Arts degree, a Bachelor's degree in Sociology with a minor in Psychology, a Masters of Clinical Social Work, and is now Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and owner of Evolving Light Counseling, LLC in St. George, UT. Laurie is thriving. But listen to her tell it in her own words…you'll be uplifted and encouraged. Because that's what Laurie is all about; she is compassionate, gentle, understanding, and keenly insightful. Please share this episode with several other people. Because the thriving that Laurie talks about might just be inspired by her episode. Also, please do your part to help bring justice to victims and survivors of rape or sexual assault. A fantastic way to do this is to Start By Believing when listening to or supporting someone whose life has been devastated by interpersonal violence. Here are some helpful sites and resources I hope you'll look into to find the help and encouragement you may be needing: https://elcstg.com/ (Evolving Light Counseling, LLC) https://www.safeinharmsway.org https://thejanbrobergfoundation.org https://www.startbybelieving.org https://evawintl.org https://projectcallisto.org https://www.markel-consulting.com davemarkel@gmail.com