Reunion Online

I realize now I’d been unknowingly recovering for years before I acknowledged to myself that the unwanted sexual interactions I’d had with my parish priest were abusive.

I was fighting for my life once again, and this time I would not be defeated.

It should come as no surprise, I suppose, that we who work to create a safe space for men who have experienced sexual abuse and assault feel a great debt of gratitude to the many courageous men who have stepped forward to tell their stories. Each day, by their example, they challenge harmful social norms that tell men that showing vulnerability will be met with shame and sometimes even doubt. 

Be kind to yourself. Say only positive, loving thoughts to yourself.

Wanting to end the feeling of not being loved or accepted by others often is at the heart of addictions, depressions and desperate actions.

Anonymous, safe and therapeutically sound support groups to men in real-time.

There is nothing wrong with us; something wrong was done to us.

It was 28 years ago, in 1987, that I first reported to the Archdiocese of Boston that my parish priest had abused me two decades earlier. I asked that the priest be removed and given help to address his abusive behavior; and that the church make a public effort to find other victims. They told me then they didn’t believe me.

The Bristlecone Project celebrates the courage of a growing number of male survivors of sexual abuse who defy the stigma and renounce the shame that have for so long silenced men who have been sexually abused.