Sitting Beside The Hurt

In this powerful episode of the Connecticut Book Festivals Podcast, host Jed Doherty sits down with author, advocate, and writing mentor Melissa B. Lombardo, creator of Hurt, Healing, and Hope: Thriving Beyond Sexual Assault. Melissa shares how, after being sexually assaulted in her 20s, she found her way to counseling at the New Britain YWCA and was encouraged to write about her experiences. What started as private journal entries slowly grew into a three-act interwoven monologue, complete with reflection questions and journaling space to support other survivors in their own healing journeys. She and Jed talk about the therapeutic power of writing—how it isn’t a substitute for therapy, but can be deeply healing. Melissa describes years of silence, illness, and emotional pain, and how her “Heal for Real” journey helped her move from merely surviving to truly thriving beyond the assault. She explains why she changed her original subtitle from “The Aftermath of Rape and Sexual Assault” to “Thriving Beyond Sexual Assault,” and how reclaiming her voice led her into advocacy, public speaking, and community building. Melissa also discusses the book’s life as a theater piece, the companion journals she created, and the many ways friends, families, and allies can support survivors—by listening, believing, and simply being present, without trying to “fix” everything. Finally, she shares how this work has supported healing not only for herself, but also for her family, her readers, and the wider community, and how her project Write, Heal, Thrive continues that mission.