Description

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A profoundly personal account of the impact of complex trauma on a man's life.

Larry Ruhl's father sought comfort from his only son, smothering him not only with his affection, but his sexuality--blurring critical boundaries that would prove deeply debilitating. Larry's mother, with her spiraling, ever-changing mental illness kept the family in a constant state of anxiety. By the time Larry graduated from high school, overwhelming sadness and suicidal thoughts took root, plaguing him for decades.

Breaking the Ruhls will resonate deeply with many who have experienced similar trauma, boundary violations, and abuse within the family. Ruhl mines his own experiences with sexual confusion, addiction and recovery, relationships, career struggles, and therapeutic breakthroughs, while demonstrating it is possible to heal and thrive.

Ninety-three percent of juvenile sexual assault victims knew their perpetrators. For 80 percent of those, that perpetrator was a parent.

Shines a spotlight on complex trauma involving sexual abuse and help others shed the shame that sexual abuse survivors unfairly carry.

Larry Ruhl serves as a board member for Taking Back Ourselves, which facilitates weekends of recovery for survivors of sexual abuse, and is a registered speaker with RAINN (Rape Abuse Incest National Network). He previously served as a board member at Male Survivor, a leading organization in the fight to improve the resources and support available to male survivors of all forms of sexual abuse. Today he takes meetings into addiction treatment centers as a way to shed shame and draw the parallels between addiction and sexual abuse.

About the Author

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Larry Ruhl serves as a board member for Taking Back Ourselves, which facilitates weekends of recovery for survivors of sexual abuse, and is a registered speaker with the RAINN network (Rape Abuse Incest National Network). He previously served for a two-year term as a board member at Male Survivor, a leading organization in the fight to improve the resources and support available to male survivors of all forms of sexual abuse. He also spoke publicly at colleges and retreats to increase awareness of sexual abuse against men and boys. Today he takes meetings into addiction treatment centers as a way to shed shame and draw the parallels between addiction and sexual abuse. He graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), the State University of New York (SUNY) college of art, business, design, mass communication and technology, with a degree in Display & Exhibit Design, and worked as creative director at a textile firm for ten years until opening his own home furnishings/interior design business in 2004.