Meet Darlene:
Speaker and Survivor
Darlene Barriere grew up in a violent and abusive home. As a teenager, she was sexually assaulted at knife point. She endured many additional hardships as a result of her home life. She quit school at 16. At 18, Darlene realized that an education was too valuable to turn her back on, so she went back to high school as an adult stude
nt while working full time at night as a waitress.
In her twenties, again while working full time, she enrolled in British Columbia Institute of Technology as a night school student, and earned a certificate in business management.
Determined to give her own life experiences purpose, resolute about making a difference and addressing the issue of child abuse, Darlene certified as a licensed daycare provider and opened an interactive daycare facility where parents were directly involved in the program, including sessions where she taught non-violent forms of discipline.
When her husband took early retirement, Darlene shifted her focus from child daycare to child abuse survivors. She published her memoir in 2005 as a way to show that healing is possible, and she launched her interactive website www.child-abuse-effects.com after she trained and certified as a violence and abuse prevention educator. To date, her site has received and posted over 1600 stories (child abuse and dating violence), articles and commentaries from survivors around the globe. She has written many articles concerning child abuse, dating violence, and bullying & harassment.
But it was during her talks to students about dating violence that Darlene realized how little had changed in the years since she had been sexually assaulted: To her dismay, she discover that students were every bit as uninformed about dating violence as she had been decades before. Knowing this wasn't the fault of the students, or the parents, or the teachers, or even society, she made it her mission to develop a program that would address the issues that make dating violence an ongoing challenge for students and campuses alike. Talk Before Touching™ became that program.
Author and Coach:
Talk Before Touching™ Series:
Darlene's dating violence book, Does Your Relationship Make The Grade? Strategies to improve your dating relationships and avoid date rape is her first in her Talk Before Touching™ Series. Blending humor and hard-hitting realities, the book examines communication differences between males and females, promotes mutual respect in relationships (heterosexual, as well as same-sex relationships), explores the dynamics of healthy vs unhealthy relationships, takes a close look at the issues surrounding consent, provides a method for students to "rate their relationships", and discusses strategies that will help prevent miscommunication, dating violence and date rape/sexual assault.
Scars To Stars™ Series:
The College Student's Self-Empowerment Handbook is one of many in Darlene's Scars To Stars™ Series, where the focus is on self-respect, respect in relationships, and the power of positive thinking.
Her memoir, From Victim To Victory: How I got over the devastating effects of child abuse and moved on with my life takes readers on the gritty road of healing and recovery from child abuse.
Healing From Child Abuse: Affirmations, Validations and Words of Wisdom empowers survivors to heal from the devastating effects of abuse.
Coming Soon:
From Self-Doubt To Self-Empowerment: How to overcome adversity, embrace who you really are, and create the life you really want encourages and empowers college students to connect with who they really are.
The ongoing series, Dialogues With Survivors: What child abuse survivors want to know about... In each book (see list below), Darlene discusses sometimes controversial but very real child abuse related topics:
Darlene Barriere grew up in a violent and abusive home. As a teenager, she was sexually assaulted at knife point. She endured many additional hardships as a result of her home life. She quit school at 16. At 18, Darlene realized that an education was too valuable to turn her back on, so she went back to high school as an adult stude
nt while working full time at night as a waitress.In her twenties, again while working full time, she enrolled in British Columbia Institute of Technology as a night school student, and earned a certificate in business management.
Determined to give her own life experiences purpose, resolute about making a difference and addressing the issue of child abuse, Darlene certified as a licensed daycare provider and opened an interactive daycare facility where parents were directly involved in the program, including sessions where she taught non-violent forms of discipline.
When her husband took early retirement, Darlene shifted her focus from child daycare to child abuse survivors. She published her memoir in 2005 as a way to show that healing is possible, and she launched her interactive website www.child-abuse-effects.com after she trained and certified as a violence and abuse prevention educator. To date, her site has received and posted over 1600 stories (child abuse and dating violence), articles and commentaries from survivors around the globe. She has written many articles concerning child abuse, dating violence, and bullying & harassment.
Darlene has delivered dozens of talks to students on issues of violence, including dating violence and child abuse. She has also conducted half-day workshops on child abuse prevention, and bullying & harassment to parents, teachers, faculty, college students, church groups, and other community professionals.
But it was during her talks to students about dating violence that Darlene realized how little had changed in the years since she had been sexually assaulted: To her dismay, she discover that students were every bit as uninformed about dating violence as she had been decades before. Knowing this wasn't the fault of the students, or the parents, or the teachers, or even society, she made it her mission to develop a program that would address the issues that make dating violence an ongoing challenge for students and campuses alike. Talk Before Touching™ became that program.
Author and Coach:
Talk Before Touching™ Series:
Darlene's dating violence book, Does Your Relationship Make The Grade? Strategies to improve your dating relationships and avoid date rape is her first in her Talk Before Touching™ Series. Blending humor and hard-hitting realities, the book examines communication differences between males and females, promotes mutual respect in relationships (heterosexual, as well as same-sex relationships), explores the dynamics of healthy vs unhealthy relationships, takes a close look at the issues surrounding consent, provides a method for students to "rate their relationships", and discusses strategies that will help prevent miscommunication, dating violence and date rape/sexual assault.
Scars To Stars™ Series:The College Student's Self-Empowerment Handbook is one of many in Darlene's Scars To Stars™ Series, where the focus is on self-respect, respect in relationships, and the power of positive thinking.
Her memoir, From Victim To Victory: How I got over the devastating effects of child abuse and moved on with my life takes readers on the gritty road of healing and recovery from child abuse.
Healing From Child Abuse: Affirmations, Validations and Words of Wisdom empowers survivors to heal from the devastating effects of abuse.
Coming Soon:
From Self-Doubt To Self-Empowerment: How to overcome adversity, embrace who you really are, and create the life you really want encourages and empowers college students to connect with who they really are.
The ongoing series, Dialogues With Survivors: What child abuse survivors want to know about... In each book (see list below), Darlene discusses sometimes controversial but very real child abuse related topics:
- confronting your abuser
- targeting a specific child for abuse
- mother-daughter incest
- the real meaning of forgiveness
-
moving on with their lives
- and more....
From The College Student's Self-Empowerment Handbook
by Darlene Barriere
by Darlene Barriere
Darlene will inspire your students to unleash their own unlimited potential through the power of positive thoughts.
Darlene Barriere
Unit 202 - 1210 Summit Dr
Kamloops, BC, Canada
V2C 6M1
Unit 202 - 1210 Summit Dr
Kamloops, BC, Canada
V2C 6M1
