Welcome to Taking Back Ourselves.

Our mission is to serve survivors of sexual abuse and assault of all genders who want to heal in an inclusive community.

We are dedicated to empowering survivors of sexual abuse and assault to be whole, healed and connected to others.

Happy New Year!

As we usher in 2025, the Board of Directors of Taking Back Ourselves is excited to announce that Abbe Straw, Elika Nerette, and Chad Corbley have been newly appointed as TBO’s Co-Executive Directors. Sharing this executive role, Abbe, Elika and Chad will be succeeding Mikele Rauch, TBO’s visionary Founder, as ED.

We are also delighted to let you know that Mikele will continue to serve as an invaluable source of inspiration for our organization and maintaining her role as TBO’s Clinical Director.

Please join the TBO Board in welcoming Abbe, Elika, and Chad!  

As long-standing members of the TBO Weekend of Recovery facilitator team, Abbe, Elika, and Chad have a deep understanding of the organization and its mission as well as significant personal investment in TBO. Moreover, each brings a wealth of experience and knowledge gleaned from years of working in mental health and nonprofit spaces. Abbe, who resides in Columbus, Ohio, is a licensed clinical social worker, a certified yoga instructor and instructor-educator, and is certified in iRest meditation. Elika is also a licensed clinical social worker and is the Clinical Director of Housing Works in Brooklyn, NY. Chad is a psychologist and owner of City Counseling: A Home for Growth, a multidisciplinary psychotherapy practice in Columbus, Ohio. Chad is also a facilitator for MenHealing, which supports male survivors of sexual abuse and assault.

Accepting their new roles with deep gratitude, Abbe, Elika, and Chad agreed, “We are humbled and honored to have the opportunity to further TBO's mission of support for survivors of sexual abuse and assault and excited to explore new opportunities for funding, outreach, and programming." 

Wishing our new Co-Executives and the entire TBO community the very best in the New Year. 

Featured
A Message for 2025
A Message for 2025

What now?

The earth is rumbling with turbulence.

But above the planet debris, the blue remains so utter, air so still. 

Everything clamors for your attention: the world, the wind and wildfires, the work, the cravings, the people you cannot fix, the hurts, regrets, shame—yours or others passed down to you... your deep grief, its unexpected losses and realizations, your fear of the future, fear of the now, that incessant drumbeat that insists on constant production, the performance of a version of yourself that is not you, the child inside that begs to be heard.

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The Dilemma of Joy
The Dilemma of Joy

This holiday season, there is a profound incongruence in our world situation, within our families, and within ourselves. The lights, traditions, and expectations of the season may feel hollow compared to the uncertainty and violence in the world and perhaps in the face of one's own crippling depression. So you may struggle mightily when the season calls for celebration. We know that grief and sorrow have no convenient timetable at such a time. 

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And Suddenly...
And Suddenly...

All at once everything is different. It can happen in an instant or a day. The world goes dark, stark, violent.  An accident an assault, a murder, a suicide, a heart attack, a terminal diagnosis, a national disaster, a fire, hurricane, or a betrayal, a revelation, even an offhanded remark.

When the unexpected devastates you, there is a before and there is the now.  Many may share the event. But sometimes nobody knows. You may have lost your home or health, your livelihood, your partner or your child. You may have been betrayed by the person you thought you could trust the most.  Whatever it is, nothing is the same, yet the world outside goes on.  

And you are still you.

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A Note to the Survivor Community

The present time has been a time of profound uncertainty and loss.  You may be scared, bored, restless.  It is hard to find support.  Some of you are utterly overworked as you take care of the rest of us.  

This is a hard season, a long one—

So what do we do now?  We tackle uncertainty, suffering, inconvenience, shortages, racism, inequality, death.

We garner hope and resilience.   

How do we make meaning of it all , and this precious life?

Please weigh in, either anonymously or by name.  Send it to us.  Write what you know, what you are experiencing, and what you are learning.  Send it our way so we can share it.

We know that much in the way that a pebble dropped in a pond spreads out and affects even the furthest shore of a lake, survivors who experience a Weekend of Recovery can take a profound healing back into their lives that will impact all their relationships.