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After suffering a horrifying ordeal at a young age, Madeleine Black chose to transform a brutal and traumatic true story into Forgiveness and Hope. These days, Madeleine devotes herself to causes designed to end the shame, stigma and silence surrounding sexual assault, endeavouring to assure people that no matter how dark their experiences, they can always emerge stronger. In this very special episode, Madeleine talks to Lyn about how she overcame her own ordeal, and how she now uses her own story of Survival, Forgiveness and Hope to help others. KEY TAKEAWAYS What we can’t speak about has got to come out somehow - After Madeleine’s ordeal, the events of that night affected her behaviour and personality. She developed anorexia and began to use drugs and alcohol as a way of coping. Followed by a suicide attempt! Becoming a wife and mother was the start of Madeleine’s healing journey. The realisation that loving, and being loved in return, was possible, helped to bring Madeleine back from the edge. Madeleine recognised that she was transferring her own fears to her daughters, and realised that they were never going to have healthy positive experiences of life if she did not learn to 'let go'. Forgiveness from Madeleine was an act of self-love. By choosing to release her anger and fear, and embrace the past as just that, Madeleine’s healing process was finally able to feel more complete. Forgiveness is an empowering process. Love will always win over hate, whether that’s self-love, or the act of love between two people. Love is powerful enough to heal any wound.   BEST MOMENTS ‘Sadly, too many of us can relate to my story’ ‘Everyone is going to respond in a different way to the trauma they’ve experienced’ ‘It doesn’t matter what we’re drinking, or smoking or wearing. It’s never the survivors’s fault’ ‘Forgiveness is the most powerful thing we can do - for ourselves’ ‘You can heal. There is always hope’.   VALUABLE RESOURCES Hearts Entwined Podcast -Apple Podcasts (iTunes) -Spotify -Stitcher https://madeleineblack.co.uk https://twitter.com/madblack65 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unbroken-Journey-Shattered-Violence-Survival/dp/1786062763   ABOUT THE GUEST Madeleine Black: International Speaker, Patron for Say Women, Story Teller for The Forgiveness Project, Author of ‘Unbroken’ and Psychotherapist. Madeleine Black has an unusual personal story which she uses to inspire and motivate others.  She chose to forgive the two men who gang raped her at thirteen years old and she shares her story for many reasons. She wants to end the shame, stigma and silence surrounding sexual violence enabling others to find their voice, whatever their story is.  She wants people to know that it’s not what happens to us that is important but what we do with it.  She will show how changing her mind-set tapped into her resilience and transformed her life, making people question their own thinking and encouraging them to see that there are always choices to make, and if we choose to, we can get past anything that happens to us in life both professionally and in our personal life.  She wants to encourage others to live their life courageously too; but ultimately she wants to inspire hope and show people that we are all so much stronger than we think we are. The sharing of her story publicly on The Forgiveness Project’s website in September 2014, opened many doors for Madeleine in ways she never imagined, and the invitations started to pour in.  Many women and men got in contact and explained how reading her story gave them strength, hope, and a different perspective of what’s possible in their lives.  She has taken part in both TV and radio interviews and has been invited to share her story of being gang-raped as a teenager at conferences, book events, schools etc.  She recognises that she was a victim of a crime that left her silent for many years but has now found her voice and intends to use it.  Not just for her, but for so many who can’t find theirs yet. In March 2018 she won the Amazing Strength award at the No. 1 Magazine Amazing Women Awards and in October of the same year was asked to be the Patron for Say Women, a Scottish organisation which offers safe accommodation and support to young women who are survivors of sexual abuse/rape and who are homeless.  She is one of 50 Thrivers taking part in research by The Global Resilience Project to develop a resilience blueprint for others.  She is a storyteller for The Forgiveness Project and has recently become involved with their programme RESTORE, sharing her story in prisons As well as being an “accidental speaker” she continues to work as a psychotherapist in Glasgow.  Her memoir, Unbroken, was published on April 4th 2017.   ABOUT THE HOST Lyn Smith – (The Queen of HEARTS) – Love, Dating & Relationship Expert Lyn’s personal story is a very inspirational and harrowing one of how she went from having unhealthy and unfulfilling relationships with men (on the back of several serious traumatic sexual assaults in her teens) to now being in a soul fulfilling relationship which makes her feel alive, is full of passion and gives her inner peace.  She has a proven track record as a Love Solutions - Relationship Expert / Trainer / Inspirational Speaker and Best-Selling Author based upon her own vast personal research, experiential learning and training with the world’s leading industry experts. Understanding the polarisation of masculine & feminine energy resulted in her creating massive attraction and a passionate, intimate, fulfilling relationship – that inspired her to design & present her own course programmes to share these break-through relationship techniques with women across the globe.  HEARTS Entwined is a world-class service based on care and understanding, which is committed to providing step-by-step high-value love, dating and relationship solutions.  Lyn makes a difference by helping you make a difference; she has a vision of contributing back on a global scale – to create a lasting legacy of safety, dignity and opportunity for children and women who have survived rape, abuse and severe trauma as a result of war crimes and sex trafficking – through the setting up of worldwide – ‘you can heal your life’ centres.   CONTACT METHOD lyn@hearts-entwined.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.