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From Family Secrets to Freedom: Survivor Voices Help Break the Cycle at UConn Stamford
Some of the most powerful conversations about change begin with lived experience.
On August 12, 2026, that experience was brought to the center of the room as approximately 90 women gathered at UConn Stamford for “What Happens in Mama’s House… Breaking the Cycle,” an all-women’s symposium confronting familial sexual abuse, incest, familial sex trafficking, and the silence that too often surrounds them.
Presented by Her Time, the symposium brought survivors together with mental health professionals, advocates, legal and judicial professionals, educators, law enforcement representatives, and community organizations for a full day of education, resources, and honest conversation.
For the Connecticut Hall of Change, the gathering also created an important opportunity for women with lived experience to help shape the way professionals understand trauma and survivor needs.
From Lived Experience to Leadership
A central portion of the symposium was the panel “From Family Secrets to Freedom: Survivor Voices, Lessons Learned, and the Tools Needed to Heal.”
Women connected with Her Time and Connecticut Hall of Change, including members of The Great 8, shared perspectives on subjects that are often difficult to discuss publicly.
The conversation explored the realities of family secrecy, fear, isolation, financial dependence, community stigma, and the pressure survivors may experience to remain silent.
But the discussion was also about what comes next.
Panelists spoke about the tools and relationships that can make healing possible, including therapy, legal advocacy, peer support, safety planning, education, faith and community resources, and spaces where survivors can connect with people who understand their experiences.
Most importantly, lived experience was not treated simply as something for professionals to examine. Survivors were part of shaping the conversation.
Helping Professionals See Beyond the Case
Professionals working within mental health, social services, courts, advocacy organizations, law enforcement, and community programs encounter survivors at very different stages of their lives.
Breaking the Cycle encouraged those professionals to consider what exists behind the referral, case file, disclosure, or courtroom appearance.
Sessions explored trauma and memory, delayed disclosure, survivor credibility, exploitation dynamics, legal processes, and coordinated community response.
The goal was to create deeper understanding while strengthening collaboration between the systems survivors may rely upon.
Voices of Resilience
The symposium featured keynote speaker Maria Trusa, whose presentation, “Reclaiming One’s Self, Shaping One’s Destiny,” focused on courage, resilience, healing, and personal transformation.
Tammy Sneed also brought decades of professional experience in child advocacy, juvenile justice, human trafficking response, and trauma-informed care, helping connect individual survivor experiences with opportunities for systems-level change.
Organizations and professionals throughout Connecticut contributed additional education and resources, helping participants leave with practical connections to services available within their communities.
Breaking More Than Silence
The phrase behind the symposium, “What happens in Mama’s house stays in Mama’s house,” represents something larger than words.
It represents the secrecy that can allow harm to remain hidden.
Breaking that cycle requires survivors who are willing to share when they choose to do so. It requires professionals willing to listen. It requires organizations willing to collaborate. And it requires communities willing to have conversations that may be uncomfortable but necessary.
That connection between lived experience and community change closely reflects the purpose of the Connecticut Hall of Change.
The stories people carry are not only reminders of what they have survived. They can become tools for educating others, improving systems, and helping someone else recognize that another future is possible.
The August 2026 symposium was the beginning of that conversation, with Breaking the Cycle expected to return to Connecticut in 2027 while exploring opportunities to reach additional communities.
