You can have a life after surviving sex trafficking. Here's how it starts.

When someone is first escaping sex trafficking, it can feel difficult and overwhelming to imagine what’s waiting on the other side.

This is especially true for children and minor youth, who make up a sizable percentage of those who are exploited in the United States. While the exact number is not known because many instances of exploitation go unreported, the National Human Trafficking Hotline and BeFree Textline report that roughly 25% of the calls they receive are from minors.

Some have never known life outside their abuse, so picturing a different life can feel impossible. But, no matter how hard it can feel at first, the other side of surviving sex trafficking is more than worth the journey it takes to get there. Because there is always hope and people that are there to help you along the journey — and no one knows this better than the survivor-leaders who've gone on to help other survivors find their strength again.

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Being mentally ill doesn't mean you can't help others. Just ask this therapist.

It’s no secret that the field of mental healthcare attracts individuals who’ve received mental healthcare themselves. Most of us become therapists because we’ve either needed therapy or benefitted from it. (Or both!)

I’m a child and family therapist. I also happen to have my own mental illness.

While some may argue that my mental illness impacts my work in a negative way, I believe it provides me with additional insight and skill. I’m a therapist with mental illness and, while my work is challenging, I’m better because of it.

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For kids with PTSD, healing is happening in an unexpected place — a football field.

On a football field in Boston, several kids gather for an unlikely purpose: supporting each other in group therapy.

At the mention of group therapy, it’s easy to imagine it taking place across a seated circle in a quiet room. But this group therapy is no ordinary mental health program — it involves sprinting, catching footballs, and learning to run defense.

In fact, at first glance, a session might look like any other practice time for young athletes because just like any football team, they run drills, develop strategy, and work on throwing a perfect spiral.

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Kids with autism face unique challenges. These 10 glorious pics capture the victories.

Sometimes our smallest victories aren't that small at all.

"This Is Autism," a photo series produced by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, illustrates that point beautifully. The photos capture the moment that kids with autism reached their biggest achievements after receiving therapy at the hospital's Marcus Autism Center.

"For many families that have a child with autism, even the simplest milestones are something to celebrate," the hospital notes.

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