Anna Astwood
Anna is the co-Founder and co-President of Love Doesn’t Hurt, an organization dedicated to preventing teenage dating violence and promoting healthy relationships. She holds degrees in Psychology and Counselor Education from the University of Central Florida and served as a High School Counselor for more than 11 years. As a survivor of sexual assault and teenage dating violence, Anna is passionate about helping young people recognize their worth, build healthy relationships, and find healing after trauma.
How This Story Found Voice
This memoir began when Anna was 22 years old as a way to process her experiences, begin healing, and offer hope to others facing similar situations. Writing became a way for her to confront the trauma she had carried in silence for years. Page after page, her story grew into a book documenting two and a half years of severe physical and emotional abuse inflicted by her high school boyfriend.
For more than 20 years, the manuscript remained untouched on a bookshelf. The timing wasn’t right. Anna still had much to learn about trauma, about the complexities of abuse, and about the reasons survivors often stay. Most importantly, she needed time to heal.
After two decades — and with the support of the right people — Anna returned to the memoir and rewrote it through the lens of the insight, growth, and understanding she had gained over the years. The memoir was finally completed with one purpose in mind: to help others in abusive relationships understand that the abuse was not their fault, they did not cause it, and healing is possible.
“It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t cause it. You didn’t deserve it.” -Anna Astwood
But He Said He Loved Me 