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John-Michael Lander      

Founder of An Athlete’s Silence; Former Olympic-Bound Athlete & Sexual Abuse Survivor

John-Michael Lander is a certified Trainer and Life Coach for the Self-Talk Institute and founder of An Athlete's Silence, where he speaks to male athletes and survivors of sexual abuse to help them break their silence. Through writing, speaking, and consulting, he helps individuals and organizations identify the signs of grooming, manipulating, and stigmatizing sexual abuse and how to help survivors face the past and find their true selves. As a 14-year-old, Lander was an Olympic-bound athlete, and during his training, he endured sexual abuse from coaches, benefactors, and medical professionals, which resulted in years of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and even suicide attempts. Despite what he was going through, Lander was able to win gold medals at the Norway and Danish Cups.

Lander works with institutions to improve situations following abuse scandals. He demonstrates how the Predatory Grooming Trifecta affects the organization first, the parents second, and then the target, which allows predators to go undetected for years. Lander believes sexual abuse statistics are higher in sports due to how easy it is to silence men and boys with shame through social stigma and toxic masculinity and by disguising male sexual abuse as hazing, initiation, or rite-of-passage. Lander broke his silence when he presented the speech “An Athlete’s Silence” at the TEDxDayton 2018 Convention. He has since spoken globally and served as an ambassador for Athletes' Rights during the Olympics. Lander sits on The Army of Survivors Board of Directors and runs a YouTube channel that explores the Predatory Grooming Trifecta.

Lander's publishing portfolio includes the following books: "Surface Tension," "Cracked Surface," and the upcoming "Shattered Surface." These books follow the main character, David Matthew, and the effects sexual abuse has on his everyday life as he tries to break into the entertainment business. Lander has decided to tell his story through David's eyes.

Speech Topics

Ally Program

The Ally Program is for partners, parents, friends who want to help survivors. The way to talk and communicate with survivors is challenging and can be triggering. This program also provides allies with self-care tools to help themselves and the survivor.

Predatory Grooming

Everyone is groomed or conditioned from the time we are born. This program looks at how easy it is to fall into the grooming practices of predators, the signs, and ways parents can protect their children. I provide a close look at how predators change their approach, making it difficult to identify them. 98% of predators know their target.

The Hero Within

Explore the limitations that we have adapted, adopted, interpreted, downloaded from parents, relatives, friends, religious figures, coaches, teachers, society, government, etc. An exploration of finding our Hero within and thriving.

Survivors' Long-Term Effects of Inflammation due to Negative Self-Talk

Self-Blaming and Negative Self-Talk causes inflammation that may lead to diseases. Survivors can change the way they think and their lives. I share my journey through changing the way I think and ways to ease and maintain inflammation.

An Athlete's Silence

Sharing my personal story. One in four females and one in six males are sexually abused before eighteen. In sports, we see that these numbers are higher. Males are more reluctant to report dues to our society's stigmas and expectations.

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