The nightly terror is real. And so are the words...

"Shhhh...this is our little secret...don't tell anyone."

On the outside, Lori Golden had a perfect childhood. A perfect family. A perfect upbringing. What Lori really had was a perfect house of lies. To the outside...and within the confines of the walls.

The sexual abuse that started at the age of five for Lori Golden became a wall of silent screams. Screams that were hidden from herself and from the world for decades. Until she could and did tell.

Her father was the ape in her nightmares, hidden under the stairwell, lurking in the hallway, shadowing her as darkness came in the night.

When sexual abuse occurs, you are alone with your abuser, creating a unique kind of aloneness. One that is dark and sinister. You feel hopeless in the belief that you could get better or that the pain could end. Your aloneness becomes so profound that it makes you want to self-destruct, even feel suicidal.

In her gritty and horrific story, My House of Lies, she reveals:

Telling is the first step in healing. If you do not, you continue to live in silence, alone, with your abuser.

Getting help is essential. You cannot do this alone.

Recovery is painful and hard. But without it, you live in its effects, symptoms that are not your DNA, as she once thought, but the person in hiding.

Sexual abuse has long tentacles. Know that it is not in the past but alive in the present, permeating all aspects of your life.

You should embrace your story and let your inner abused child speak out. Learn how to love your child within and dedicate yourself to achieving your own personal freedom from its bondage. You lived through the worst of it as a child and survived. You can live freely once again.

Lori Golden learned that life is possible after a decade of sexual abuse. Her story, her recovery, and her work as a therapist and speaker has opened doors for thousands.