You Are Not Alone with STEVE SIMPSON
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Today I\\u2019m talking with Steve Simpson, an award-winning author, businessman, and volunteer. Steve started writing as a child to escape a traumatic home life, and through his experiences with foster care, therapy, and self-help groups, was able to create a new start for himself. Today, he is here to speak loud about his own experience with abuse and to assure other people that they aren\\u2019t alone.\\xa0
Living a False Narrative
In early childhood, Steve describes himself as the opposite of an \\u2018A student\\u2019: a \\u2018Z student.\\u2019 He was always cracking jokes and interrupting and consistently failed classes because of the physical and verbal abuse he was receiving at home from his father. He recalls being jealous of the \\u2018smart kids\\u2019 whose home lives he believed to be perfect. Steve developed the narrative that he was stupid and that it didn\\u2019t matter how much effort he put in\\u2014he would never succeed.
Steve says that he started cutting class as early as 3rd grade, and would go to the library and ask for a pen and paper, where he would write poems and short stories. He was always looking for a way to escape. At 11, he attempted suicide, telling people who didn\\u2019t understand: \\u201cI don\\u2019t want to die\\u2014I just don\\u2019t want to live.\\u201d\\xa0
The Power of Self-Help
A turning point came in Steve\\u2019s life when he entered the foster care system. He stayed in two homes, both of which he recounts as good experiences, but the real trigger for healing was the mandated self-help group he attended. He states that it was the best thing to happen to him. Suddenly, he felt welcomed, and discovered that the so-called \\u2018smart kids\\u2019 in his group were fighting many of the battles he was at home.\\xa0
The self-help group supported him not just in his personal life but in school. Steve learned how to study and found himself doing better in school, going from barely passing to achieving high honors. In his teen years, he finally realized that it wasn\\u2019t his fault, but his circumstances that were creating the negative narrative. \\xa0
Writing The Survival Handbook
As an adult, Steve has written four fiction novels that he directs towards teens and young adults who are experiencing abuse or considering suicide. The books are works of fiction with abuse victim handbooks hidden inside. Steve wrote the books as a way for the right tools to get into the hands of kids who otherwise wouldn\\u2019t seek out help or who didn\\u2019t feel safe.\\xa0
Steve says that he wrote the kinds of books that would have helped him. He wanted the reader to leave feeling better about themselves and encouraged to find help. \\u201cIf you are an adult,\\u201d Steve says, \\u201cyou are involved.\\u201d He believes that it\\u2019s the adults\\u2019 responsibility to call out abuse and support victims, especially if they\\u2019re children.\\xa0
Listen in to learn more about the impact of verbal abuse, the dangers of misdiagnosis in abuse victims, and Steve\\u2019s five-year-plan.\\xa0
Resources Mentioned
Join Me on Speak Loud Platform
Speak Loud Podcast on the web
Find Steve\\u2019s books on his website
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