Fighting Back: What an Olympic Champion''s Story Can Teach Us about Recognizing and Preventing Child Sexual Abuse--and Helping Kids Recover

About Blaise AguirreCynthia S. KaplanKayla Harrison

Kayla Harrison began training in judo at age 6 and is the first American ever to win an Olympic gold medal in the sport which she did in both 2012 and 2016. Yet her competitive success masked an unimaginable personal struggle. At the age of 16 she revealed that she had been sexually abused by her coach for years. Today Kayla uses her gold medal profile voice and example as well as her Fearless Foundation to encourage and empower other survivors of child sexual abuse. Now retired from competing in judo Kayla is moving into mixed martial arts with the Professional Fighters League. She lives and trains in Boston. Cynthia S. Kaplan PhD is a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Director of Trauma Training and Consultation in the Simches Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at McLean Hospital. She has worked with numerous survivors of child sexual abuse and is coauthor of Helping Your Troubled Teen. Blaise Aguirre MD holds the Michael Hollander PhD Endowed Directorship at the 3East Dialectical Behavior Therapy program at McLean Hospital and is a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents: What To Do When Your Teen Has BPD.