Journaling To Growth: The Power of Your Words & Your Story

Overcoming Child Sexual Abuse ~ With Kathy Andersen

Today, I’m joined by the very special, Merle Saferstein. Merle is an educator, speaker, and author. Since 1974, Merle has amassed a collection of 380 journals, 359 of which have been turned into Vol 1 of her book, Living and Leaving My Legacy. Through Merle’s journaling, we experience the power of journaling to help us each move through our lives—the highs, the lows, and everything in between, through trauma, marriage, parenting, grief, career, spirituality, and so much more. Among those highs and lows, Merle shares how she moved through the revelation that her daughter was sexually abused as a child by someone trusted by the family, and the healing and growth that she and her daughter continue to experience through that.

When our beautiful mutual friend Sheryl Sandberg tragically lost her husband, Dave Goldberg, the father of their two young children, Merle’s guidance helped Sheryl journal through a horrifically tragic time, and that journey ultimately led Sheryl to write her book, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, with Wharton professor, positive psychologist and best-selling author, Adam Grant.

Most of Merle’s career has been in the field of education, and for 26 years, she served as the director of educational outreach at the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center in South Florida where she worked closely with Holocaust survivors to perpetuate their legacies for this and future generations.

Merle has also created Living and Leaving Your Legacy®, a program that focuses on preserving and passing along the essence of one's life. And through classes, workshops, and lectures, Merle has guided thousands of people through journaling, sacred legacy work, and writing for wellness.

Merle lives in Miami, Florida with her husband of fifty-five years and has two children and two granddaughters.

For more resources, visit www.OvercomingChildSexualAbuse.com and www.End1in4.org