Tolson 4 TEARS Talks 2 SCAN: Stop Child Abuse Now

The Project 4 TEARS: Telling Everyone About Rape & Suicide to comfort victims, break the silence, and challenge society.

So no shed tear is wasted.

SCAN: Stop Child Abuse Now, blog talk radio show, coordinations with the National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse. The primary mission at NAASCA is to help abused people get into recovery. Secondly, we actively advocate for a better understanding of the many issues that surround the problem of child abuse in America. Bill Murray, founder, says, "Very few adults have escaped severe child abuse, trafficking, child pornography and kidnapping. But I have. More importantly, I've been in recovery from its devastating effects for over 25 years." Visit Facebook cause "Stop Child Abuse Now" (SCAN): 

I was a guest on SCAN, hosted by Bill Murray, Carl Hart, Jessica Stevens, and we talked about my memoir Beyond the Tears: A True Survivor's Story. I've accustomed to telling my story publicly, and even gave personal testimony to state legislatures, but this interview was particularly open and transparent. I did not answer questions in vague terms or politically correct phrases; I used the real words that represent the horrible experiences of rape and incest, and its devastating effects that may last a lifetime, like drug abuse and suicide attempts.  Listen as the host(s) and I talk about moving from pain and suffering to hope and healing.

Thanks to Bill Murray and the members of SCAN/ NAASCA for providing attention and advocacy to the millions of men and women who need a hand to hold on their journey.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

discussion October 2011:

Listen to internet radio with Bill Murray on Blog Talk Radio

Child Abuse Awareness Month discussion April 2013

Listen to internet radio with Bill Murray on BlogTalkRadio

Beyond the Tears Receives 5 Star Review

A Journey of Healing, Told with Heart

This book [Beyond the Tears: A True Survivor's Story] is a journey through healing from sexual abuse and all the pain that goes with it. Sexual abuse isn't just a one time thing that can be survived and gotten over. It takes tears, talking, relearning, stumbling and getting up again to move through all the shadows abuse leaves behind. Lynn C. Tolson [@lynntolson] has done a magnificent job of telling her story; one that is unique to her, but shared by far too many. It touched my heart, and reminds me every day to get up and keep healing. Thank you for having the courage to write it and share your story with the world.

Jackie L. Lawrence @jackiesministry "A resource for survivors of abuse and those who minister to them" You can read Jackie's story (and others) in this extensive well-written article by Jan Goodwin in O, The Oprah Magazine, titled "Please Daddy No" published November 2006.

"Peace of Mind" by Lynn C. Tolson

Tolson 4 TEARS Claims "I AM"

Tolson 4 TEARS means Telling Everyone About Rape & Suicide: to break the silence, comfort other victims, and challenge our society. It's important to note that statistics reveal that an estimated 14 percent of those who experienced sexual assault may attempt suicide.  This accounts for only those who made the connection obvious. I wonder about the empty percentage of those who make no association between rape and suicide.

How could I know that my deep despair, overwhelming despondency, and desire to end my life was related to rape? After all, I trained my brain to "remember...nothing" as I had been instructed by the perpetrators. 

The following is a paragraph in Beyond the Tears: A True Survivor's Story. I was 23 and had admitted myself to a psychiatric unit because I could no longer bear to live with the suicidal thoughts/activities. Something somewhere somehow was trying to help me save myself.  I had taken it upon myself to finish the job rape started, obliterating my soul with lies of worthlessness.

As I sat on the bed in the psych ward a Neil Diamond song played on the tape recorder. “I am . . . I said, to no one there, and no one heard at all not even the chair.” My interpretation of the lyrics evolved into: I am a chair! I am an object! A memory formed as corporeal as that contained under the influence of truth serum: Could that really have been my big brother using me as an inanimate sex object? I am a chair! I am an object! I shoved the ambiguous memory down just as quickly as it had floated up."

However, it would take another 20 years before I could admit to my SELF that my brother had sexually assaulted me, threatened me with my life, and tried to eliminate my spirit with dead silence. To hear my voice, nourish my spirit, and claim my identity, I wrote the truth. 

I AM

Tolson 4 TEARS Cheers Michal Madison ART

Michal Madison is an artist on a mission to bring awareness to child abuse and domestic violence. Her soulful images have an effect on feelings such that words cannot describe. As I gaze upon any one of her paintings, whether it be a portrait, a collage, or an abstract, I am often moved to emotional places that my logical intellect barred me from exploring. Her paintings inform on an intuitive level! As Michal says, "art captures emotions that could never be expressed in words!" She often incorporates her own prose or collaborates with others to provide poems that reflect the image.

I "met" Michal Madison on the internet when we discussed healing journeys on air via blog talk radio for the O.A.B.I. Voices United Network. (Organization for Abused and Battered Individuals). We candidly shared our stories of survival to bring hope to victims.

Michal Madison says, "i've been deeply impacted by sexual abuse as a child. the cycle continued with domestic violence as an adult. i've had to work through feelings of helplessness & shame, betrayal & confusion. art keeps me grounded. it gives me a voice when i can't find my own words. art has helped me to keep breathing, & keep trusting in Creator. I believe that Creator is really using art to help me reach down deep inside & find joy, strength & courage to rise above the past! healing is a lifelong journey."

Yes, healing may be a lifelong journey for survivors of abuse. Yet, as Michal Madison generously shares her abundant gifts, may we all benefit from the images she produces from her heart to ours.

Have a look and see for yourself:

Art by Michal Madison

Beyond the Tears Receives 5 Star Review

Surviving and Healing From Abuse

Lord, give me the right words to let Lynn Tolson know how much I appreciate her courage in sharing her story about incest, domestic violence, mental illness, addiction and then the sharing of her healing from all of those. Because of the brutal honesty that Lynn uses to share her story, Beyond the Tears is not an easy read. If you are a survivor, the book needs a Trigger Warning. The compassion that I feel for the child that Lynn was and the adult that she is now are beyond measure. As her title says, Lynn is a true survivor. Lynn Tolson has my admiration for what she has survived and my gratitude for writing and sharing her story of abuse, both physical and emotional.

Lynn Tolson is a survivor that I met on Twitter [@lynntolson] sometime in the past 4 years. I have wanted to read her book for awhile. I want to do justice to Lynn and her book. I have been having trouble writing this review and I have been working on getting my words and feelings about this book down on paper for several weeks now. Why? Because I am afraid that I won't do her book justice with my review. Reading Lynn's book was intense and caused me to numb my feelings several times while I was reading it because I am just beginning to look at my own Domestic Violence issues from my childhood. Suicide is something else that I struggle to understand. My emotions were all over the place when I was reading Lynn Tolson's book.

Beyond the Tears begins the first chapter with Lynn attempting suicide and ending up in a mental ward of a nearby hospital when she survives the attempt. Lynn's father who incested her when she was a child died from his own suicide attempt so Lynn says she was following in her father's footsteps with her own suicide attempt. I am very glad that she did not succeed, like her father did. The hospital counselor didn't do much to help Lynn but she didn't give up. With the help of a therapist trained in helping trauma victims, Lynn was able to start her healing journey which she shares in her book.

Lynn's journey to healing will inspire other survivors who are just starting out on their own journey to healing. Ms Tolson is a true survivor who has been through the Hell of anxiety, depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to become a survivor. I am amazed at the amount of abuse that some children and adults survive. Lynn Tolson nearly didn't. Beyond the Tears, A True Survivor's Story is Lynn's story of that survival and healing from childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence. Thank you Lynn Tolson for sharing your story of courage and survival and for reaching out and helping other survivors to heal.


Review by Patricia Singleton @patriciasinglet

"Storm Warning, Trigger Warning" by Lynn C. Tolson

Tolson 4 TEARS Reviews Poetic Reflections

Review of Poetic Reflections: Keep the Heart of A Child by Lori R. Lopez

Author Lori R. Lopez @LoriRLopez is known for her mystery, horror, and suspense stories. In Poetic Reflections, the reader sees her talent for writing poetry, prose, and song lyrics. What a prolific word-smith!


Poetry is often so abstract that it requires too much mental work to interpret: This is not the case with Lori's readable and understandable style. Lori R. Lopez's writing is raw yet carefully polished.

As I was reading Keep the Heart of A Child, I often felt as if Lori had been taking snap-shots of my thoughts, those elusive thoughts that come and go so quickly that they defy capture. Lori has the unique ability to contain and examine those thoughts, explore the emotions, and translate them by using words with substance. All this occurs with well-crafted twists and turns of language that convey the universal human condition of slow rises and fast falls as we ride the roller-coaster called LIFE. 

Lori weaves her life story into this volume, creating textures that are not easily labeled but are readily resonating. The reader may feel as much joy from the poem “Sweet” as he/she does sorrow from a paragraph about abuse. Then, a poem like “Trust” appears, exploring the word in verse so that the reader can identify with the feeling, unlike a dry dictionary definition. Speaking of the dictionary, Lori uses words that even I, considerably literate and a teacher of ESL and adult literacy, had to research. She toys with words, and her clever word-play entertained me.

Each chapter has a narrative introduction that helps to organize the sheer number of words that will follow and the great span of subjects Lori R. Lopez covers. A reader cannot be disappointed; there is some thing, some word, some topic that will speak to your heart.

Review completed by Lynn C. Tolson, author of Beyond the Tears: A True Survivor's Story