Contact: Wanda Sanchez, 209-430-4688, Wanda@TraumaQueens.org; www.TraumaQueens.org

ROCKFORD, Mich., Oct. 12, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Facts about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Church:

•        An estimated 8% of Americans have PTSD at any given time, and an estimated 1 out of 10 women will develop PTSD during their lifetime.

•        A typical church congregation of 200 people serves an average of 16 people with one level or another of PTSD. If that congregation is within an urban area, that number rises to nearly 50. If this congregation is a larger church of 1,000 members in a rural or bedroom community, they will serve an average of 160 people who are experiencing a level of PTSD. If that church is within the inner city, that number rises to nearly 250.

The Trauma Queens Trading Hurt for Hope Conference lands at Rock Pointe Church (formerly St. Stephens) in Rockford, Michigan, on October 20, 2012 at 8:30am and promises to bring some understanding and even laughter to the tough issue of Trauma (PTSD).

The goal of this conference is to provide spiritual encouragement and hope in an intimate, supportive environment for approximately one hundred women, church and community leaders to address some of the most painful issues facing women in the church today: sexual and physical abuse, abandonment, neglect, self-abuse, obsessive behaviors, addictions, and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

We also provide practical resources that help participants move to the next step in their healing journey.

About the Trauma Queens speakers…

All three women are survivors of sexual abuse and speak with candor and intimacy about their journeys to hope, healing, and forgiveness:

Dawn Scott Jones

Author of When the Woman You Love Was Abused (Kregel Publications 2012). Dawn is an ordained pastor, counselor, and national speaker. Dawn is able to touch the lives of people through her powerful personal testimony. She is a survivor of sexual abuse. www.DawnJones.org

Wanda Sanchez

Author of The Hope Bucket: A Story of Shattered Dreams, an Unlikely Friendship, and a Journey to Hope; Executive Producer of one of the nation's top talk shows for the Salem network; President of WLS Communications. Trauma and sexual abuse survivor. www.TraumaQueens.org

Shelly Beach

Author of eight books, including The Silent Seduction of Self Talk and The Hope Bucket, with Wanda Sanchez. National speaker and sexual abuse survivor. www.ShellyBeachOnline.com

To schedule an interview with the Trauma Queens, email Wanda@TraumaQueens.org. For more information, visit www.TraumaQueens.org or email info@TraumaQueens.org