We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stop Suffering In Silence a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Stop Suffering thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

The way Stop Suffering In Silence came to be is nothing short of a miraculously orchestrated plan that only God could’ve designed. Rachel Timothy and Denise Walsh met for the first time in June of 2021. Denise was coming from a background of being a clinical psychologist and leaving the corporate world to become a personal life coach for others all across the country. She received a private message through social media from a guy that she didn’t know but who had been following her work, and he asked her if she would be interested in working with trafficking survivors.
Denise had felt that God was stretching her, but never in her wildest dreams did she think she would receive a message like this, let alone say “yes” to it. She had a preconceived idea of the type of clients she would be working with, so when she first met Rachel Timothy, a married, mom to four, suburban middle aged woman, she was very surprised. The more Denise learned about Rachel’s story the more dedicated she became to learning about trafficking in America as well as the process of helping someone heal from such a horrendous situation.
Denise and Rachel began to connect once a week via phone calls. Rachel had been in counseling for more than seven years, but she was still stuck in her trauma, and was not functioning well in life. The heaviness of her past was crippling her.
Denise had been working in the world of dreams and helping people reach their highest potential for years in her Dream Life business, but now she was working with a trafficking survivor who was so paralyzed by fear that she couldn’t picture tomorrow, let alone dream about a future. Denise remembers starting simple and asking Rachel what her favorite color was, and Rachel didn’t know. She had spent so many years in survival mode that she didn’t have the brain space to waste on things like that.
Denise encouraged Rachel to dream. Rachel balked at the idea at first because it felt unsafe, but eventually she started allowing her mind to think about the future and what she wanted to do.
It was miraculous the shift that took place in Rachel as she started to set her sights ahead. The transformation was apparent to everyone. Rachel began to let go of negative coping skills that were keeping her captive, and started pursuing healthy habits that would help her in her pursuit of a better life. She stopped focusing so much on the terrible things Satan had thrown at her, and instead began to fix her eyes on Jesus and letting Him lead her steps. Rachel had a light in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. For the first time, she had hope.
When Denise and Rachel saw the impact Denise’s program had on Rachel they knew that they needed to make this available to other trauma survivors. Denise had learned about this dark world that she didn’t know existed of sex trafficking in America, and Rachel learned about this world of hope and dreams that she didn’t believe she could ever experience. With new perspectives they felt called and led to help others learn about these things too.
Rachel and Denise wanted to speak on the topic of trauma and trafficking, opening eyes to what it looks like, how it exists in plain sight, how it can happen to our children, and how survivors can heal from it. They also wanted to create programs for survivors to give them a community that understands what they are going through, as well as, the tools and perspective shifts they need to grow.
With Denise living in Michigan and Rachel living in Tennessee, the way they met and began working together is nothing short of a miracle. Only God could’ve put this together as He did and formed something out of it as beautiful as Stop Suffering in Silence.

Stop Suffering, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Stop Suffering In Silence is unique to other self-help programs for many reasons. All of our programs are done online via zoom and so location is not a factor in whether or not someone can join. We have clients living in Alaska, to Michigan, to Illinois, to California, and more. We offer three different programs that can be utilized at any point in the healing journey and can be repeated and still provide additional benefits to the survivor each time they go through it. 90 Day U Turn is a program designed by Denise that helps the survivor figure out what they want in their life and how to achieve it. It takes the focus off the trauma, and gives the survivor the tools they need to accomplish things they are proud of. To trust themselves again. To live in hope instead of fear. It has been beautiful to see survivors have dreams like buying their first home, going back to college, ending an abusive relationship, starting a new job, and then getting to watch as they accomplish those dreams.
Reflecting Ownership is a program designed by Rachel that walks the survivors through some of the chains that are still holding them back from their trauma. The things that still have ownership over them despite the traumatic event happening years, maybe even decades before. In this program the survivor recognizes the areas that they need to reclaim ownership over, and then gives them the tools to take back that ownership. It leads them into conversations with their deep hurts and insecurities, but also conversations with God that allow the survivor to see the deep love the Heavenly Father has for them. Anytime someone works to overcome trauma it is difficult, but having a community there going through it with you, and knowing you are never alone helps the survivor keep going.
The third program is a collaboration book where survivors are given a chapter in a book to write a piece of their story. We have found that so many survivors want a place to share their story with the world. They want people to understand their journey, both the good and the bad.
Stop Suffering in Silence’s first collaboration book was published in November of 2023 called When We Speak, Chains Break. Ten survivors boldly and bravely said “yes” to this program and shared with the world their story. Denise and Rachel guide the survivors through the process of writing, editing, and then publishing the book. All proceeds of the book go directly back to the programs of Stop Suffering in Silence. If you are interested in reading When We Speak, Chains Break it can be purchased on Amazon. All ten survivors felt a huge sense of accomplishment and have proudly shared the book with others in hopes that it will be an encouragement to those living in similar situations.
Through the community formed with the survivors as they meet each week via zoom, they begin to feel seen, heard, and validated. They no longer suffer alone in their pain, but recognize that others are battling similar things. Together they push each other to keep going when life gets tough, and to never give up. The relationships formed in these programs are life-long and an added blessing.
Stop Suffering in Silence hosts one retreat a year where the survivors travel to a location to spend three days together where they are pampered, but also stretched even further in their healing journey. This retreat provides unique excursions that the survivors would likely never do on their own. It gives the survivors a chance to be together face to face, to go on adventures together, to laugh together, and to go even deeper in their healing.
Lastly, Stop Suffering In Silence has a Granny Program, where a healthy Christian woman is paired up with a graduated survivor to be their mentor for 6-8 weeks. Rachel had a woman who stepped into that mentor role and helped her immensely in her walk with God and her healing journey. That Godly woman was known as Granny in Rachel’s book Open Blind Eyes, where she shares her story of trafficking in America. In honor of Granny, the Granny Program was designed to act similarly in giving the survivors an additional support. For those interested in being a Granny, Denise and Rachel prepare and train you with the tools and materials you need to be a Granny. It is truly a beautiful experience for both the survivor and the Granny.
Working with survivors and seeing them spread their wings and begin to soar like eagles is one of the most beautiful aspects of Stop Suffering In Silence. Seeing the survivors be believed and supported as they heal in community instead of suffering in silence is the biggest and most important thing that Stop Suffering In Silence does.
There have been many opportunities arise where Denise and Rachel have been able to travel to not only share Rachel’s story, but to educate and raise awareness on all things trauma and trafficking related, as well as, the healing journey. They limit their events to approximately one event a month and have found that every time they speak they reach new survivors and open eyes to countless more on what to look for when it comes to trauma and trafficking. If you are interested in booking a Stop Suffering In Silence to come speak to your church, business, school, small group, team, etc. reach out through the website www.stopsuffering.org.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Stop Suffering In Silence was founded in June of 2022 and has consistently been ran from donor support. From donations given at speaking events, to online donations, Stop Suffering In Silence has been blessed to never be without. As Stop Suffering In Silence continues to grow we are investing more time and more resources and therefore are needing to emphasize the need for donations more than ever. It is a blessing to be able to provide these programs to survivors at little or no cost to them. Survivors are able to attend the retreat without worrying about the finances. Denise and Rachel are able to travel to speak without worrying about out of pocket costs.
This ministry is only possible because of donors like you who see the importance of the cause and are willing to support and give directly to the survivors and their healing journey.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Many of the survivors that Stop Suffering In Silence works with have heard about our programs through word of mouth or from speaking events. As survivors experience the life changing shift they begin to spread the word of this program and reach out to other survivors they know. They can’t keep the good news in and what others to experience the hope and healing they have found. It’s important that people know that trauma is trauma. Many times potential clients won’t pursue working with Stop Suffering In Silence because they don’t think their trauma is “bad enough” for them to join. They justify that others have had it worse and therefore they aren’t “qualified” to be in our programs.
If trauma is impacting your life in any way, then these programs are for you. Stop Suffering In Silence works with trauma survivors from sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, spiritual abuse, neglect, and more. Whether it was a one time traumatic event that is still holding you back in fear, or a lifetime of trauma, our programs are for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stopsuffering.org
• Instagram: @_stopsis_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StopSIS
• Linkedin: linktr.ee/stopsis
• Twitter: @_stopsuffering
• Youtube: @StopSIS
• Other: Our podcast is Stop Suffering In Silence is on every podcast platform and Youtube.