This deep dive pulls back every layer and finally tells the real reason I created Down the Rabbit Hole and wrote Stripped Down: Piece by F*cking Piece. This is the truth underneath everything I’ve put out into the world. The moment my life cracked open. The years of abuse, manipulation, and silence that pushed me to the edge. The collapse that forced me to stop pretending I was fine.

It walks through the point where survival mode stopped working and the only way forward was speaking the story I spent years hiding. The emotional weight. The psychological damage. The nervous system breakdown. The spiritual unraveling. The exact moment I realized this wasn’t content for me. This was survival. Staying quiet was destroying me.

This is my why. My core message. The heartbeat behind every chapter and every episode. A woman finally telling the truth she carried alone for too long so no one else has to feel that alone in theirs.

EPISODE 7 | The Silent Poison and the Fight to Breathe:

In this episode, I’m telling the truth most people never hear. The kind that lives behind closed doors and quiet smiles. The kind of abuse that destroys you from the inside out long before anyone realizes something is wrong.

This isn’t a story about “just leaving.”
It’s about what happens when you survive something that should have killed you, and then spend years trying to make sense of the pieces left behind.

I talk about the night I almost didn’t make it out, the decade of fallout that rewired my entire nervous system, and the relationship that felt like a soul-level connection but ended up breaking me deeper than anything before it.

This episode goes into the real aftermath — the panic, the numbness, the drinking, the self-doubt, the gaslighting you do to yourself because the world refuses to believe your story. It’s the truth about trauma bonding, emotional abuse, and what chronic trauma actually does to your body and your mind.

If you’ve ever felt unseen, disbelieved, or blamed for the pain you didn’t cause, you’re not alone.
If you’ve ever questioned your own memories because someone trained you to, you’re not crazy.
If you’ve ever left abuse and wondered why everything still hurt afterward, this episode will make you feel understood.

This is what survival really looks like.
And this is what healing actually feels like.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussions of abuse, trauma, and mental health struggles that may be distressing or activating for some listeners. Please listen with care.
Resources for Support
Abuse doesn’t discriminate—and neither do the resources that can help. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out.
National Domestic Violence Hotline (U.S.): 800-799-7233 | thehotline.org
(Free, confidential support for anyone in an abusive relationship—women, men, LGBTQIA+, teens, and more)
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network): 800-656-HOPE | rainn.org
(24/7 support for sexual assault survivors of all genders)
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 (U.S.) for immediate, free support from trained crisis counselors
1in6 (for male survivors of sexual trauma): 1in6.org
(Support, therapy, and group resources specifically for men)
Male Survivor: malesurvivor.org
(Education, peer support, and healing spaces for men who have experienced sexual abuse)
BetterHelp or Open Path Collective:
Online, low-cost therapy options for all genders
International Directory:
therapyroute.com or womensupportproject.co.uk
(Global support lists for emotional abuse, trauma, and domestic violence)
Visit my website: lindsay-michele.com
Follow on Instagram: @downtherabbithole.lm
All my Links: https://linktr.ee/downtherabbithole.lm
❤️ You are not alone.
#healing #traumarecovery #selflove #mentalhealth #resilience #lifecoach #inspiration #empowerment #narcissisticabuse #mindfulness #emotionalhealing

Episode 6: I’m the “Crazy Ex.” Certified by Gaslighters Anonymous

You tell the truth, and suddenly you’re the problem.

The liar. The dramatic one. The “crazy ex.”

This episode exposes what really happens after you walk away from abuse—how the story gets rewritten, how friends disappear, and how the world believes the version that feels easier to hear.

It’s about the smear campaigns, the silence of people who stayed “neutral,” and the moment you realize defending yourself only keeps you trapped in their game.

Because when you stop fighting to clear your name, you start standing in it.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussions of abuse, trauma, and mental health struggles that may be distressing or activating for some listeners. Please listen with care.

Resources for Support

Abuse doesn’t discriminate—and neither do the resources that can help. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out.

National Domestic Violence Hotline (U.S.):

800-799-7233 | thehotline.org

(Free, confidential support for anyone in an abusive relationship—women, men, LGBTQIA+, teens, and more)

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network):

800-656-HOPE | rainn.org

(24/7 support for sexual assault survivors of all genders)

Crisis Text Line:

Text HOME to 741741 (U.S.) for immediate, free support from trained crisis counselors

1in6 (for male survivors of sexual trauma):

1in6.org

(Support, therapy, and group resources specifically for men)

Male Survivor:

malesurvivor.org

(Education, peer support, and healing spaces for men who have experienced sexual abuse)

BetterHelp or Open Path Collective:

Online, low-cost therapy options for all genders

International Directory:

therapyroute.com or womensupportproject.co.uk

(Global support lists for emotional abuse, trauma, and domestic violence)

Episode 5: The Breakthrough That Breaks You

What happens when the healing hits harder than the hurt?

When the moment of clarity isn’t light—it’s heavy.

When you finally see how deep it went and how much of you it shaped.

In this episode, I talk about the side of healing no one warns you about—the part where awareness knocks the wind out of you, where the truth doesn’t feel freeing at first, it feels like breaking down everything you once believed about yourself.

This isn’t about becoming new.

It’s about facing what’s been there all along.

The breakthrough that breaks you—before it rebuilds you.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussions of abuse, trauma, and mental health struggles that may be distressing or activating for some listeners. Please listen with care.

Resources for Support

Abuse doesn’t discriminate—and neither do the resources that can help. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out.

National Domestic Violence Hotline (U.S.):

800-799-7233 | thehotline.org

(Free, confidential support for anyone in an abusive relationship—women, men, LGBTQIA+, teens, and more)

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network):

800-656-HOPE | rainn.org

(24/7 support for sexual assault survivors of all genders)

Crisis Text Line:

Text HOME to 741741 (U.S.) for immediate, free support from trained crisis counselors

1in6 (for male survivors of sexual trauma):

1in6.org

(Support, therapy, and group resources specifically for men)

Male Survivor: malesurvivor.org

(Education, peer support, and healing spaces for men who have experienced sexual abuse)

BetterHelp or Open Path Collective:

Online, low-cost therapy options for all genders

International Directory:

therapyroute.com or womensupportproject.co.uk

(Global support lists for emotional abuse, trauma, and domestic violence)

Episode 4: Was It Me?

What do you do when the cycle repeats? When the faces change, but the abuse looks hauntingly familiar?

In this episode, I open up about being in more than one abusive relationship — physical, verbal, and manipulative — and the question that haunted me for years: Was it me?

We dig into the patterns survivors fall into, why unprocessed trauma repeats itself, how silence keeps us stuck, and the lie every abuser wants us to believe: that we’re the problem.

This isn’t just my story — it’s the story of so many survivors who have carried shame that never belonged to them. Together, we’ll pull apart the silence, the gaslighting, the shame cycle, and finally flip the narrative.

Because no, it wasn’t me. And if you’ve been there too, it wasn’t you either.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussions of abuse, trauma, and mental health struggles that may be distressing or activating for some listeners. Please listen with care.

Resources for Support

Abuse doesn’t discriminate—and neither do the resources that can help. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out.

National Domestic Violence Hotline (U.S.):

800-799-7233 | thehotline.org

(Free, confidential support for anyone in an abusive relationship—women, men, LGBTQIA+, teens, and more)

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network):

800-656-HOPE | rainn.org

(24/7 support for sexual assault survivors of all genders)

Crisis Text Line:

Text HOME to 741741 (U.S.) for immediate, free support from trained crisis counselors

1in6 (for male survivors of sexual trauma):

1in6.org

(Support, therapy, and group resources specifically for men)

Male Survivor:

malesurvivor.org

(Education, peer support, and healing spaces for men who have experienced sexual abuse)

BetterHelp or Open Path Collective:

Online, low-cost therapy options for all genders

International Directory:

therapyroute.com or womensupportproject.co.uk

(Global support lists for emotional abuse, trauma, and domestic violence)

Episode 3: The Language of Trauma

Trauma doesn’t just live in memories — it lives in the body, the brain, the nervous system. In this episode, I strip down the hidden reality of what it feels like to survive: the pretending, the shutdown, the silence that isn’t respected, and the aftermath people don’t talk about. This isn’t about being “too sensitive.” It’s about the cost of survival and the messy, unpolished work of healing.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussions of abuse, trauma, and mental health struggles that may be distressing or activating for some listeners. Please listen with care.

Resources for Support

Abuse doesn’t discriminate—and neither do the resources that can help. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out.

National Domestic Violence Hotline (U.S.):

800-799-7233 | thehotline.org

(Free, confidential support for anyone in an abusive relationship—women, men, LGBTQIA+, teens, and more)

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network):

800-656-HOPE | rainn.org

(24/7 support for sexual assault survivors of all genders)

Crisis Text Line:

Text HOME to 741741 (U.S.) for immediate, free support from trained crisis counselors

1in6 (for male survivors of sexual trauma):

1in6.org

(Support, therapy, and group resources specifically for men)

Male Survivor:

malesurvivor.org

(Education, peer support, and healing spaces for men who have experienced sexual abuse)

BetterHelp or Open Path Collective:

Online, low-cost therapy options for all genders

International Directory:

therapyroute.com or womensupportproject.co.uk

(Global support lists for emotional abuse, trauma, and domestic violence)

Episode 2- “Why didn’t you just leave?”

“Why didn’t you just leave?” It’s the question every survivor hears — the one that blames us instead of the abuser. In this episode, I take you inside the hospital rooms, the police stations, the fear of leaving, the retaliation after, and the reality survivors live with every day. Leaving isn’t simple. It isn’t safe. And it isn’t the end of the story.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussions of abuse, trauma, and mental health struggles that may be distressing or activating for some listeners. Please listen with care.

Resources for Support

Abuse doesn’t discriminate—and neither do the resources that can help. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out.

​National Domestic Violence Hotline (U.S.):

800-799-7233 | thehotline.org

(Free, confidential support for anyone in an abusive relationship—women, men, LGBTQIA+, teens, and more)

​RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network):

800-656-HOPE | rainn.org

(24/7 support for sexual assault survivors of all genders)

​Crisis Text Line:

Text HOME to 741741 (U.S.) for immediate, free support from trained crisis counselors

​1in6 (for male survivors of sexual trauma):

1in6.org

(Support, therapy, and group resources specifically for men)

​Male Survivor:

malesurvivor.org

(Education, peer support, and healing spaces for men who have experienced sexual abuse)

​BetterHelp or Open Path Collective:

Online, low-cost therapy options for all genders

​International Directory:

therapyroute.com or womensupportproject.co.uk

(Global support lists for emotional abuse, trauma, and domestic violence)

Episode 1: This Is Why I’m Here

This is where it starts.

The silence, the shame, the years no one saw.

In this first episode, I open the door to the truth most people avoid. Abuse. Isolation. Aftermath.

This isn’t just my story—it’s what survivors live every day.

Take what you need. Leave what you don’t.

And learn to love yourself again—piece by f*cking piece.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussions of abuse, trauma, and mental health struggles that may be distressing or activating for some listeners. Please listen with care.

Resources for Support

Abuse doesn’t discriminate—and neither do the resources that can help. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out.

• ​National Domestic Violence Hotline (U.S.):

800-799-7233 | thehotline.org

(Free, confidential support for anyone in an abusive relationship—women, men, LGBTQIA+, teens, and more)

• ​RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network):

800-656-HOPE | rainn.org

(24/7 support for sexual assault survivors of all genders)

• ​Crisis Text Line:

Text HOME to 741741 (U.S.) for immediate, free support from trained crisis counselors

• ​1in6 (for male survivors of sexual trauma):

1in6.org

(Support, therapy, and group resources specifically for men)

• ​Male Survivor:

malesurvivor.org

(Education, peer support, and healing spaces for men who have experienced sexual abuse)

• ​BetterHelp or Open Path Collective:

Online, low-cost therapy options for all genders

• ​International Directory:

therapyroute.com or womensupportproject.co.uk

(Global support lists for emotional abuse, trauma, and domestic violence)

⸻

This Deep Dive is the raw truth behind why I created Down The Rabbit Hole: Unfiltered.

It’s not about healing being pretty or having it all figured out. This space is for the survivors—the ones still piecing themselves back together, still triggered, still rebuilding, still carrying the weight no one sees.

You’ll hear the real story, the unfiltered aftermath, and the reason I had to create this space, not just for me—but for anyone who’s ever felt silenced, invisible, or broken by abuse.

Stay tuned—the full podcast and my book, Stripped Down: Piece by Fcking Piece, are coming soon.*

This deep dive comes straight from my upcoming book, Stripped Down: Piece by Fcking Piece.

It’s raw, real, and unfiltered—the same way this entire space is meant to be. I’m sharing my story not to relive the pain, but to raise awareness and remind anyone listening they aren’t alone in this. If you’ve ever felt lost, silenced, or shattered by trauma, this space is for you.

Stay tuned—the full book is coming soon.*

-Lindsay-Michele