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How Did Therapy Inspire You To Become A Trailblazer For Women's Health - HER Health Expert - Marilyn Murray

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Internationally Recognized Psychotherapist, Theorist, Educator, and Author, Marilyn Murray shares what inspired her to be a trailblazer in women's mental and emotional health.

Dr. Marilyn Murray: But I wanted to know what is trauma, and how why did I do what I did, how did I react to the trauma the way I did. And so I went back to school and to get my degrees in psychology, and I did three years of BA, two years of Masters to start my PhD in 44 months.

Michelle King Robson: Wow, you were really --

Dr. Marilyn Murray: I was really committed.

Michelle King Robson: You were really passionate about making a difference, right?

Dr. Marilyn Murray: Very passionate. And so what happened then is because I was well-known here in Scottsdale because of the art gallery, I began to be asked to speak to women's groups, and to and then not just the women's groups, but at universities like ASU and others and then some churches, and soon radio and television, and I became one of the first persons in the United States in the early 80s to speak publicly about abuse issues.

And so during those years it was like rattling cages, going on television, and saying you know that abuse does happen. Sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, verbal abuse all of those kinds of things are happening. And they are happening and in the beautiful community like this or any -- I used to drive down the street, and think behind all those doors I wonder what's actually happening.

Michelle King Robson: Yeah how many yes.

Dr. Marilyn Murray: It's actually happening and so when I would go on like national television, they brought me my mailing sacks, big sacks. And I remember sitting on my living room floor with this heap of letters around me and crying, reading like 18 page letters of people saying, "please, please where can I get help? Where can I get help"? And so the big thing was then is I think it's unethical to stand up and rattle the cages and say here's the problem, here's the problem without coming up with some solution.

Michelle King Robson: Right. We always have to have the solution yeah.

Dr. Marilyn Murray: That's why weighed the plank.

Michelle King Robson: You open up the flood gates. Now you have to have a solution for the problem, right?

Dr. Marilyn Murray: Yeah and so I became really concerned that I was making people being giving them freedom to talk about this for the first time when I would go and do these talks. Often times people would drive for hundreds of miles to come and hear me, and we would have standing room only crowds, and I would afterwards I would stand there, and people would be in line clear out the door sometimes to talk with me, and then I would stay and counsel for free 15 hours a day.

They practically slid my food under the door

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