IN AN EMERGENCY

If you or your friend needs urgent help, call 911 right away. Or even take your friend to the emergency room for assistance. If you feel it’s safe, stay with your friend or find someone to stay with them until help arrives.

Call 911

IN AN CRISIS

You are not alone, and help is always available. Get immediate support 24/7. Reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting COALITION to 741741 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. It’s free, and everything you tell them is confidential, unless it’s essential to contact emergency services to keep you or your friend safe.

Melissa Sorkin

Melissa is a professional dancer, model, personal trainer, and Boston College graduate. More than anything, she is a performer on a mission to bring more beauty to this world in every way that she can. She is also a survivor of domestic violence.

“I have never been more grateful for my art form than I have throughout my healing journey. I think that when words fail movement doesn’t and unraveling how complicated a domestically violent relationship is, and all of the layers that coincide with that, was really challenging, and dance has always been my first language.” 

“Having a medical expert to help me go through a trauma and deal with it has been such a necessary part of my healing process. If I had a broken foot, I would go to the doctor. This for me is the same thing.”

“The way your brain works before trauma and after trauma is completely different, and understanding what is going on in your body allowed me to work with myself instead of against myself.” 

“You have the strength and power to get through this because you are already surviving.”

If you can relate to this storyteller, below are some resources you might find helpful. For immediate text support, reach out to Crisis Text Line by texting COALITION to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor for free 24/7. You can also call National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. It’s free and highly confidential, unless it’s essential to contact emergency services to help you or your friend stay safe.

  • DomesticShelters.org – If you are currently in a domestically violent relationship in the U.S. or Canada, click here for a search tool to find nearby domestic violence programs and shelters.
  • Harvard Health Publishing – If you are interested in learning the signs of a domestically violent relationship, understanding the dynamics of power & control within these relationships, and about the barriers that keep a survivor from being able to walk away, click here.
  • The National Center for Biotechnology Information – To learn more about the science behind mental health responses to sexual assault for women, click here for a study looking at the cognitive and emotional correlates associated with sexual assault in women.
  • The National Domestic Violence Hotline – If you know or think you may be in a domestically violent relationship, call 1.800.799.7233 or click here to talk with a trained advocate online.

Resource Library

We encourage you to browse this database to learn about mental health and seek support.

More Collections