Rosenna Bakari-

Dr. Rosenna Bakari is an author, speaker and transformational poet focused on raising awareness of the hidden pain.  She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Psychology to begin her career in counseling, and a Ph.D. at U. Northern Colorado to transition from counseling to teaching. She taught psychology at community college, private and state universities before founding Talking Trees, an empowerment organization for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. She founded the organization in 2010 when she began living openly as a survivor. Earning a Ph.D., having a long-term marriage and building a good career served as distractions while living in silence for over 30 years while hiding thoughts of suicide and accumulating health issues. When the systems on which she relied, ultimately, failed she found her way through the darkness using unconventional sources such as poetry and martial arts.

 Her organization has over 5500 international members and holds a national conference every April 15 to celebrate the resilience of survivors. She weaved through bitterness and anger in a world that felt hell-bent on breaking the spirit and believes others can too, because trauma should not have the final word.

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