I was on Entertainment Tonight, Wednesday, September 2 at 7 PM to discuss Jaycee Dugard and the possible effect her captivity has had on her and on her children.

Imagine Jaycee’s personality as a car that was happily waiting for a bus 18 years ago and then she was abducted by the Garridos, and taken to the compound that we are now seeing pictures of. Now instead of a personality adjusting to the world around you, think of an automobile transmission as the part of a car that adjusts and transmits the power to a car in response to the road it is on. Her transmission which was “geared” towards freedom and freedom of choice, suddenly had to be changed to one that had to cope with the threat of danger to survive.

It’s as if previous to her kidnapping she could navigate her way into her future. However, after it she had to navigate her way to survive which was to either stop, go in reverse, or obediently move forward according to the will of Garrido.

Now suddenly she has been freed and she has to undergo a transmission overhaul while she is driving (this by the way is what soldiers have to do when returning from active service to military life). How would a person accomplish this? 

The key is not what people tell Jaycee, but how they safely enable her to talk through the past horrors and about what’s going on deep inside that may be keeping her psyche and her future prisoner. For more about this check out: “What’s in store for Jaycee Dugard?”

At the request of Jaycee Lee Dugard’s mother, Terry Probyn, the nonprofit Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe has set up an account for Dugard and her two daughters to help with “immediate and future needs.

Checks should be made payable to SISLTF/Jaycee Dugard Family Fund. They may be sent to Bank of the West, Account No. 186153508; 2161 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150.

See ET interview at: Entertainment Tonight: What’s in Store for Jaycee Dugard

If you want to become a listener that helps others to open up to you, check out my about to be published book: “Just Listen” Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone (AMACOM, Sept. 15, 2009)