When Survivors Become Mothers: A 3 Part Reading & Conversation Series

Author Catherine Simone Gray & The Breathe Network Founder Molly Boeder Harris will colead a survivor & mothering community reading & conversation series that centers Catherine's book, Proud Flesh: A Memoir of Motherhood, Intimate Violence, and Reclaiming Pleasure.

We will bring together survivor-mothers to explore the complexities of parenting, the opportunities of healing and how we may access a deeper and more embodied sense of empowerment.

Our meetings will take place on Zoom over three weeks on Wednesdays:

10/15, 10/22 & 10/29 from 5pm PT/7pm CT - 6:15pm PT/8:15pm CT

We will record the calls for those who cannot participate live.

The reading and conversations will approach the book using the structure of its 3 sections. We will invite conversations about the imprints of trauma and of resilience, alongside the wounds and the wisdom that comes with mothering. We welcome survivors of all genders who are interested in untangling the overlapping injuries and healing possibilities of survivor-mother identities.

Proud Flesh will be available at a 25% reduced rate through the publisher, North Atlantic Books.

About the Presenters:

Catherine Simone Gray is a teacher & a writer of stories of healing, pleasure, and liberation. She is the author of the recently released PROUD FLESH: A Memoir of Motherhood, Intimate Violence, and Reclaiming Pleasure. (North Atlantic Books 2025) Catherine’s writing about mothering & healing postpartum as a survivor of IPV has also been featured by bestselling author Roxane Gay in The Audacity. She first began sharing her story on her early blog Unsilenced Woman, where her piece about teaching her young son consent reached 2.5 million readers worldwide. Catherine has over a decade of experience as a writing teacher & leads workshops exploring how writing can be an ally in our living & loving, with an eye toward calling on nature & the body as teachers. She lives in Jackson, Mississippi, with her husband & their two children, two cats, and a ball python.

Molly Boeder Harris is the Founder & Director of The Breathe Network, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and a trauma-informed yoga teacher & trainer. Her experiences of surviving sexual trauma catalyzed her entry into the trauma healing field. Over the last two decades+, she has worked as an on-call medical & legal advocate with children & adult survivors, a campus violence prevention educator, and as a yoga instructor specializing in trauma-informed yoga. She earned a Master’s Degree in International Studies & a Master’s Certificate in Women’s & Gender Studies, which inform the way she holds individual and collective forms of trauma, oppression & healing close together in her work & life. She is now pursuing a PhD in Somatic Psychology with the intention to utilize her research to further survivor’ access to trauma-informed, holistic healthcare and healing. Molly believes that somatic healing practices support the greatest possibility for embodied justice & sustainable social change.

Please contact us at molly@thebreathenetwork.org with any questions.