Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Camelia Straughn.
Hi Dr. Straughn, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I am a survivor of childhood sexual assault/rape, which started when I was 5 years old and did not end until I was 17. I was married young, and my husband beat me on a regular. I stayed with him for 5 years during which I joined the military. I am also a survivor of Military sexual trauma. It is through surviving all of this physical, emotional, and sexual abuse that I answered my calling to assist other women, girls, and some men who have had and maybe are having these same experiences. I remember the anger and fear of trying to navigate these feelings of shame and blame alone. Not having someone who I could trust and talk to, who wasn’t gonna call me crazy or blame me for what had happened to me. For a very long time, all I did was survive. I had watched so many other women and soldiers go down a road of self-destruction because they did not get support; they were forced to continue to work with the person who abused and violated them. So, I began to take all the training that the military offered that helped me learn about sexual assault advocacy and prevention along with suicide prevention. Going through this training also put me in the position to have conversations with Commanding Offers about the climate of their companies when it can to sexual assault and suicide. In all transparency, I was still surviving…not really thriving. I began to do the inner work around what that would look like to actually thrive. Of course, this is 3 children and several grandchildren later :). When I retired, I decided to take it a step further and began to look at what it would take for me to really thrive and that is where I wrote the first edition of Finding Your BLISS is in the Midst of Pain: 9 Keys to Trusting Yourself and Living an Extraordinary Life. I also created The B.L.I.S.S. Life System, where we look at how B.L.I.S.S. (Beliefs, Love, Intimacy, Self-care, Success) impacts our finances/career, spirituality/faith, relationships, health, and wellness. In using this system, you get to move from just surviving to thriving.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. I have attempted suicide 3 times in my life. Thankfully I was not successful. I still struggle with PTSD and have been hospitalized because of these struggles. But, the most significant challenge has been the thought of not being enough, and in this is where the B.L.I.S.S. Life System really was birthed from, me fighting for the truth and owning the belief that I was enough.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about RisingSTAR Coaching?
At RisingSTAR Coaching, our mission is to “Disrupt the way women view themselves, help them heal their hearts, and create a life of BLISS. I am known for and most proud of my capacity to create safe spaces for women to face and work through the shadows. I want your readers to know that they are enough and it does not matter what others think of them or what they have been through; they still get to choose how their life is created and formed.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
That I am enough. That I have always been enough.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.risingstarlifecoach.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drcameliastraughn/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrCameliaStraughn/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RisingSTARLC
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmJIupViu92ZCyoHSIhz_xA
Image Credits
Daniel Robertson
