138: Healing after Trauma with Ashley Chesney

The Dauntless Grace Exchange

(Content warning: trafficking, abuse, and the commercial sex industry)

Trafficking survivor Ashley Chesney joins us on the podcast to discuss healing after trauma. She breaks down a little of her own story and then tells us some truths and misconceptions about trafficking, how we can move towrads those with complex trauma, and how there is always hope for a new story.

Ashley Chesney is a Survivor Leader, author, and advocate in the Anti-Trafficking Movement. She is an inspiring speaker and an expert trainer, and SFMB’s new Executive Director. Additionally, Ashley serves as a member of the CSEC (Commercially Sexually Exploited Children) Advisory Board through the National Center of Youth Law. It is through her own journey, she has found healing that she wants to share with others. Ashley is the author of the memoir From the Ashes and she believes that advocacy, connection, and hope are key in guiding other survivors on a path to reclaim their lives after exploitation. She graduated summa cum laude from Cal State University Monterey Bay with her B.A. in Collaborative Health and Human Services from an inter-disciplinary program that held emphasis on nonprofit management and social work. Ashley is a sex trafficking survivor turned thriver.

You can support Ashley's work at her website and by following Set Free Monterey Bay.

Survivor books:

In Pursuit of Love by Rebecca Bender

Runaway Girl by Carissa Phelps

Scars and Stilettos by Harmony Dust

Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd

Purchased: Leaving the Sex Trade by Deanna Lynn

If you or someone you know is being trafficked, please call the National Trafficking Hotline: [phone] or contact National Rescue America.

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