Laura Stearns
I've spent the better part of the last nine years on a journey investigating the effects of trauma. I'm not a therapist—I'm a survivor and an advocate for helping others. I worked in theater production in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, both on and off stage, for more than four decades, and I'm a survivor of childhood sexual assault in a theater. I now live in Southern California and spend my time writing, making theater, increasing awareness about consent, and working to diminish the issues of harassment and sexual harm. I'm trying to cultivate a culture of accountability and consent in the arts and beyond.
LAURA'S BOOKS
Daring to Heal: Growing Beyond Trauma Through Awareness, Acceptance and Action
“Trauma” is one of those buzzwords most people don’t truly understand, let alone know how to process. It touches each of us in small ways and some of us in deeply profound ways. There are plenty of books on the subject of trauma, but Laura Stearns, author of Shattered: Exposing the Open Secret of the Children’s Theatre Scandal, bravely tackles it with understanding, vulnerability, humor, and a keen sense of how trauma lives in the body. She shares her knowledge through relatable and personal experiences, illustrating step by step how, over decades of practice, she has developed a process of healing that has taken her from a place of suffering to one of peace and acceptance. Daring to Heal is a beacon, a guide through the darkness to the light of personal truth that can free us from shame and behaviors that keep us tethered to our trauma. Though her personal trauma stems from childhood sexual abuse, the RITE Thinking ProcessTM shared in this book is a universal tool that can be applied to healing no matter the source of the trauma.
John Clark Donahue was considered a brilliant but difficult artistic genius in American theater in the 1970s and '80s. His theater, the Children’s Theatre Company and School (CTC), rose to the heights of critical acclaim. It was also the home to more than two dozen sexual perpetrators. In 1984, Donahue’s arrest for sexually abusing male students threatened to close the theater’s curtains for good. The theater endured, and the full truth of what was happening behind the scenes was swept under the rug, until now.
Laura Stearns’ memoir follows her process of coming to terms with experiencing childhood sexual violence at CTC, of recognizing the depth of harm from a complicit culture that allowed child abuse at the theater to go unchecked for decades, and her journey of growing beyond trauma to a place of strength. She does so with unflinching honesty, lighthearted compassion, and a healthy dose of trauma-informed education.
LAURA'S AUTHORSHIP
I've spent the better part of the last nine years on a journey investigating the effects of trauma. I'm not a therapist—I'm a survivor and an advocate for helping others. I worked in theater production in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, both on and off stage, for more than four decades, and I'm a survivor of childhood sexual assault in a theater. I now live in Southern California and spend my time writing, making theater, increasing awareness about consent, and working to diminish the issues of harassment and sexual harm. I'm trying to cultivate a culture of accountability and consent in the arts and beyond.
Listen to Connections Radio Interviews
Laurie Fitz of AM950 Connections Radio Show generously dedicated two of her hour-long radio shows to an extensive interview about my books and the importance of advocacy.
Click on the images above the descriptions to access the interviews.
October 8, 2022
Hosts Laurie Fitz and Rick Bernardo join Laura Stearns for part 1 of 2 interviews about her new book, “Shattered: Exposing the Open Secret of the Children’s Theatre Scandal ~ A Memoir of Harm and Healing.”
October 15, 2022
Hosts Laurie Fitz and Rick Bernardo join Laura Stearns for part 2 about her new book, “Shattered: Exposing the Open Secret of the Children’s Theatre Scandal,” and her coming book, “Daring to Heal: Growing Beyond Trauma through Awareness, Acceptance and Action.”