Dear Stop It Now! Helpline
Upcoming Webinar
Coming Soon!
Click here for recordings of past webinars.
About this webinar series
Stop It Now! is bringing its expertise and resources from our Helpline and Circles of Safety trainings to the privacy and comfort of your own home or office.
In a uniquely intimate training format, Stop It Now! brings the conversations from our specialized Helpline to this webinar training series - sharing the questions concerned adults have about keeping children safe from sexual harm, along with our Helpline’s calm, empowering and educational responses.
Our Helpline speaks to adults from around the globe who are concerned about every aspect of child sexual abuse and prevention. We hear from parents wondering about the sexual behaviors of their children. Concerned members of communities and families write to us asking how to respond to warning signs. Adults seeking help regarding their own urges and behaviors—often feeling like there is nowhere else to turn—seek our guidance. Adult survivors find solace and support through our intimate knowledge of their experiences.
What the Stop It Now! Helpline hears from these diverse and courageous voices forms the foundation of what we know about the real, multi-dimensional challenges that adults face in trying to keep children safe. Our compassionate and expert voices have helped empower thousands of callers over the last 22 years to take meaningful and realistic steps to protect children in their lives.
Inspired by the wisdom of our Helpline, the "Dear Stop It Now! Helpline" webinar series emphasizes the critical importance of understanding concerning and illegal behaviors along a spectrum of safety, rather than only in black-and-white terms. Participants often say that the most illuminating aspects of our trainings are when they can draw from their own real-life experiences to prepare them to respond to future situations. Conversations that revolve around these real situations can be thorny and challenging, but can also ultimately be clarifying and deeply empowering.
Using actual Helpline calls and letters, each interactive webinar in this series will explore the themes surrounding questions about children’s sexual health and sexual behaviors, adult’s sexual behaviors around children, vulnerable environments and planning for safety. The practical information, tools and resources shared by the Helpline in response to these calls and letters will be shared and discussed.
Webinars are available for a voluntary fee of $10.00 (U.S.). No one will be turned away for inability to pay but to help us keep our materials and services available and accessible to all, please consider supporting Stop It Now! with this voluntary fee.
Webinar 16
"Dear Stop It Now! Helpline...My Daughter Sexually Abused Her Sister"
Click here for a recording of the live event
Date: Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Time: 12:00 - 1:15 PM EST
Audience: Beginning professionals, parents
Description: Siblings have unique relationships, and while it can be common for siblings to engage in mutual, sexually explorative behavior, sexually harmful behaviors between siblings can occur. When one child sexually harms another child, we often respond with safety planning that includes limited contact between the children – but what if they are siblings? Sibling sexual abuse, while more common than most realize, is rarely disclosed, or even discussed. In this webinar, advocate and survivor of sibling sexual abuse who recently gave a TedTalk, Jane Epstein, will join us to discuss this topic. We'll explore what sibling sexual abuse is, looking at next steps, therapy, safety, and how to move forward after sibling sexual abuse has impacted a family.
Handouts: List of Resources | Presentation
Webinar 15
"Dear Stop It Now! Helpline... I know a young person who struggles with their sexual interests and behaviors"
Click here for a recording of the live event.
Date: Wedneday, October 27, 2021
Time: 1:00 - 2:15 PM EST
Audience: Professionals/Supportive adults working with youth
Description: As Stop It Now! launches a new website and helpline for youth with questions and concerns about their own sexual interests and behaviors, we will both share this new resource and also explore some of the youth inquiries from our Helpline. By sharing these voices and experiences, professionals working with youth can better understand the questions and concerns from young people about safe sexual behaviors. From struggles with pornography addiction to concerns about situations involving younger children, courageous youth are reaching out for help and guidance. Welcoming our guest expert, David Prescott, we will discuss the unique experience of the young person recognizing that their own sexual feelings, thoughts, and behaviors towards children and others could be harmful, and who are specifically interested in how to manage these and live a harm-free and fulfilling life.
Webinar 14
"Dear Stop It Now! Helpline... My adult child just disclosed they were sexually abused."
Click here for a recording of the live event.
Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Time: 2pm-3:15pm EST
Audience: General, professional
Desciption: No one is ever prepared to hear their adult child tell them that they were sexually abused. Support is limited for non-offending partners and caregivers, and there is even less understanding of the experience of an adult, who finds out that their child was abused but they never knew about it and only now as an adult, has their child disclosed the sexual abuse they experienced. In addition to a wide range of emotional reactions, there also questions from a broad scope of need – from “Do I press charges now?” to “How could I not have known”. With the help of our guest expert, Mel Langston, PhD, LPC, founder of MOSAC, Mothers of Sexually Abused Children, we discuss both this experience and what we can do as caring bystanders and professionals to address healing and recovery.
Webinar 13
"Dear Stop It Now! Helpline... Someone I love sexually abused a child."
Click here for a recording of the live event.
Click here for a follow-up interview with Elaine Spangler
Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Time: 1pm-2:15pm EST
Audience: General, Professionals working with non-offending caregivers and partners
Description: No one is ever prepared when someone they love has sexually abused a child. Spouses and partners who have been through the experience of watching their family be ripped apart by first allegations and then a conviction of a sexual offense, including downloading child sexual abuse imagery, are challenged with how to move forward – with their children, their family, their neighbors and their lives. They have questions about healing and how to talk to others about their experience. Join Stop It Now! as we talk about the journey and needs of non-offending loved ones. We will be joined by Elaine Spangler, a woman who found herself taking this journey when her husband was convicted of sexual abuse and also Candice Christiansen, LCMHC, CSAT-S the founder and director of The Global Prevention Project, who helps facilitate healing for non-offending partners in addition to treatment services for minor attracted people.
Webinar 12
"Dear Stop It Now! Helpline... Is my child a pedophile?"
Click here for a recording of the live event.
Date: Thursday, April 2, 2020
Time: 2pm-3:15pm EST
Audience: Parents, Professionals working with Parents
Description: When a youth’s sexual behavior is harmful to a younger child, parents and professionals alike can struggle to address these behaviors. Pathologizing or criminalizing these behaviors, while sometimes appropriate and necessary, can also obstruct parents’ engagement and understanding of how to support and help their child. The concerns and needs are multifaceted - from dealing with one’s own reactions to a young person’s harmful sexual behaviors to advocating for a youth in both legal and therapeutic arenas. We’ll share letters from parents worried about their child’s harmful sexual behaviors as a way to address some of the confusion and concerns about youth with sexually abusive behavior, and share information and strategies about accessing appropriate help and being an engaged parent. Guest expert, Becky Palmer, MS will join us to help us learn more about youth who sexually harm others and how we can help them. This webinar will primarily focus on youth of age 13 and older.
Webinar 11
"Dear Stop It Now! Helpline... What Survivors Ask"
Click here for a recording of the live event.
Date: January 28, 2020
Time: 1pm - 2pm ET
Audience: General, Beginning professional
Description: Stop It Now! has always learned from the voices of survivors, starting with our own founder. Our educational materials, Helpline and trainings are based on the insights and experiences survivors have shared with us. By sharing the questions survivors ask of our Helpline, anyone working with survivors may come to better understand the unique concerns and needs raised by those who were sexually abused. Survivors want to know more about how they can define their experience, how to heal from abuse and what to do if they’re concerned that the person who harmed them is still at-risk to harm others. Guest expert Jackie Humphreys, LICSW will join us to help us share these survivor’s stories and questions. Additionally, survivors are often the first front of prevention steps – as parents and community members, they are aware of the risk to children’s sexual safety and are seeking guidance on how to bring prevention conversations to their own communities.
Webinar 10
"Dear Stop It Now! Helpline...I’m afraid my brother is grooming a child."
Click here for a recording of the live event.
Date: Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Time: 2pm - 3pm EST
Audience: All
Description: This webinar will share stories and concerns from Helpline callers who are worried that someone they love is sexually abusing a child. For many of these callers, they hope they are wrong but want to know what steps they can take to both make sure that a child is kept safe from sexual abuse AND that the adult they care for gets help. We’ll take a deeper dive into warning signs in adult’s behaviors, building the audience’s confidence so they can identify when an adult’s behaviors are crossing boundaries and are not safe. We’ll discuss resources and services to support adults with problematic and abusive sexual behaviors, and focus on building skills to have a conversation with an adult whose behaviors are a warning sign or even abusive.
Webinar 9
"Dear Stop It Now! Helpline... My neighbor's son touched my child, can I have him arrested?"
Click here for a recording of the live event.
Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Time: 1pm - 2pm EST
Audience: Parents, Beginning professional
Description: This webinar is designed to help parents navigate the confusing next steps to take when they find out that their child has been approached or touched sexually by another child. What should parents do and who should they talk to when they find out another child’s behavior with their son or daughter has crossed the line? What if that other child is their niece or nephew, or a close family friend’s child? This webinar will share strategies to talk with other parents about their child’s at-risk behaviors, help parents identify concerning behaviors and explore how to respond to disclosures from their child that another child behaved in a sexually harmful way. This webinar will primarily focus on children aged 12 and younger.
Webinar 8
Dear Stop It Now! Helpline, Nothing has happened... yet. How do I keep it that way?
Click here for a recording of the live event.
Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Time: Noon - 1pm EST
Audience: Parents, Beginning professional
Description: We know that the best time to plan for safety is before any warning signs are present and before harm has occurred. But how young is too young to start these conversations with children? How do caring adults talk to other extended relatives – or even co-parents, about their family safety rules? Do adults need to speak up when another adult is using inappropriate language or mature jokes around children? In this webinar, we visit primary prevention strategies through Helpline letters asking about what families can do before they have a specific concern. We’ll talk about what it means to create a family safety plan, how adults can talk together about safety needs for children and how to engage with children around safety through a developmental lens.
Webinar 7
Dear Stop It Now! Helpline... My daughter says her teacher is creepy.
Click here for a recording of the live event.
Date: Thursday, September 20, 2018
Time: Noon - 1pm EST
Audience: Parents, Beginning professional
Description: With frequent news stories describing abusive behavior from adults in youth-serving institutions, this webinar brings real-life questions from parents and other caring adults concerned with warning sign behaviors in a coach, faith leader or school employee. Policies and procedures should be required in every youth serving organization, but even when they are provided to both staff and guardians, there is still uncertainty about how to speak up and take action before a child is harmed. Through sharing helpline letters, we’ll discuss ways caregivers and even other professionals can start the conversation with a school, faith-based institution or sports club about safety. We’ll review key topics that every caregiver should ask their school or program about, and also explore communication tips to address warning signs and inappropriate behaviors with professional adults caring for children. This webinar will build confidence to recognize and respond to unsafe behaviors occurring in a youth-serving setting.
Webinar 6
Dear Stop It Now! Helpline... I'm attracted to children. Part 2: What Kind of Help Should I look for?
Click here for recording of the live event.
Date: Thursday, June 28, 2018
Time: 3pm - 4pm ET
Audience: General, Beginning/Intermediate Professional
Description: Our last webinar, “Dear Stop It Now! Helpline, I’m attracted to children” shared the voices and experiences of adults recognizing their own unwanted sexual attraction to children helping us learn more about what individuals with unwanted attractions are experiencing and what they are asking for in terms of support, compassion and hope. In part two of this webinar, we’ll explore how adults who are committed to living harm-free lives can find help and support to manage their attractions and lead healthy, fulfilling lives. We’ll discuss resources and services to support minor-attracted adults, and explore strategies in finding informed and respectful support.
Joining Stop It Now! will be guest experts, Candice Christiansen, LCMHC, CSAT and Meg Martinez-Dettamanti, LACMHC - from both Namaste Center for Healing in Utah and The Prevention Project™ Utah, who will share from their experience providing treatment and support to those with problematic sexual behaviors. Guest expert's biographies.
Webinar 5
Dear Stop It Now! Helpline... I'm attracted to children.
Click here for recording of the live event.
Date: Thursday, April 26, 2018
Time: 3pm - 4pm ET
Audience: General, Beginning/Intermediate Professional
Description: This April, as part of child abuse prevention and sexual assault awareness month, we’re bringing you the questions and concerns we hear from adults worried about their own sexual thoughts and feelings about children. Adults who are at-risk can and do reach out for help before a child is harmed, and they are a key voice in prevention. Understanding the questions they have about getting help for themselves – before they act on the concerning thoughts and feelings they may have – helps us understand more about what kinds of support and resources need to be offered to plan for safety for all and in all environments.
Join Stop It Now! and guest experts, Dr. Jill Levenson, Professor of Social Work at Barry University in Miami, FL. and a licensed clinical social worker with people who have abused and Wayne Bowers, Executive Director of Cure-Sort and author of “Wayne’s Story”, a Stop It Now! story of hope. Guest expert's biographies.
Webinar 4
Dear Stop It Now! Helpline... Am I an abuser because of my sexual behaviors as a kid?
Click here for recording of the live event.
Date: February 28, 2018
Time: 1pm - 2pm ET
Audience: General, Beginning Professional
Description: Am I an abuser? These are the words we’ve heard from many concerned adults who are reflecting on their own sexual interactions with other kids when they themselves were children. They share feeling guilty, ashamed and confused; and want to know if their own actions are part of normal childhood exploration or if they point to something more harmful or even abusive? And they want to know if they are a risk to children now, and what they can do to be a responsible adult. This webinar will share letters from real people worried about their own sexual behaviors with other children when they were still youths themselves. We’ll talk about what’s normal and healthy, debunk some myths around children’s sexual behaviors, explore some of the root causes of why children engage in inappropriate sexual play, and talk about meaningful action steps these adults can take now.
Webinar 3
Dear Stop It Now! Helpline... My son kissed his younger sister
Click here for recording of the live event.
Date: December 6, 2017
Time: 1pm – 2pm ET
Description: How does a parent or caregiver know when a child’s natural curiosity about sex and normal exploratory behavior becomes more of a warning sign? Is it “normal” for a brother to experiment sexually with his younger sister? What should parents do when they find out that one of their children has initiated a sexual behavior with a younger sibling? In this webinar, sharing a couple of letters from parents who are concerned about their older child sexually touching a younger child, we’ll share some action steps and safety planning ideas to help caregivers respond to their children’s sexual behavior when they’re experimenting with their brother or sister. We'll also address some of the challenges for adults to talk with children about sexuality, and offer some resources to help conversations with children be comfortable, informative and clear.
Webinar 2
Dear Stop It Now! Helpline - I'm worried my partner is a pedophile
Click here for recording of the live event.
Date: October 11, 2017
Time: 3pm – 4pm ET
Description: There are few things that can be as worrisome as wondering if your partner could be at-risk to sexually abuse children, or worse, discovering evidence that abuse has already happened. This webinar features a letter from a woman who is concerned about warning signs she’s seen in her boyfriend’s internet use, and is wondering if he is a pedophile. We will share our Helpline’s response to her letter as well as review warning signs in adult’s behaviors that could mean they are at-risk to harm a child and share tips on how to have caring and productive conversations. We’ll also offer steps and resources to consider when there are warning signs that children are at-risk of abuse or if there is abuse already occurring through the online viewing of illegal child sexual abuse imagery.
Webinar 1
Dear Stop It Now! Helpline – Is my child safe online?
Click here for recording of the live event.
Date: July 26, 2017
Time: 12pm – 1pm ET
Description: Children’s behavior online worries parents and educators. We’ll share Helpline questions from a parent concerned about her pre-teen daughter’s safety online because strangers are contacting her and from a parent who is concerned about his young son’s safety through use of interactive gaming. Exploring our Helpline’s response to these parents, we’ll talk about preventing specific online risks through a prevention-focused lens, learning about risks and prevention tasks for specific developmental ages. Concepts and practices associated with privacy, social media, gaming and parental controls will be discussed. Handouts will be provided.