Religious trauma. Coercive control. Addiction. Depression. Deanna survived all of it — and rebuilt her life on her own terms. 

Deanna grew up inside a strict Fundamental Baptist home where shame replaced support and obedience replaced safety. When she finally left, she had no tools to recognize manipulation — which made her the perfect target. A man named Steve used love-bombing, ecstasy, and calculated coercive control to pull her into repeated sexual exploitation she identifies as rape. 

When she told her family, they stayed silent.
What followed was a spiral into heavy drinking, multiple DUIs, and a depression she drowned in alcohol. Rock bottom came in a jail cell. From there — through Alcoholics Anonymous, treatment, and community — she built something no one handed her: long-term sobriety, a storytelling platform called Intrepid Storytelling, and a family of three kids she created by choice through IVF, foster care, and adoption.

This is what recovering from religion and trauma actually looks like.

Ian Bick joins Clark Fredericks on the Free Like Me Podcast.

It started with hustle. As a bullied teenager desperate for acceptance, Ian channeled his energy into school dances, house parties, and eventually some of the most profitable teen nightclub events in his region. But when he tried to scale into full-size concerts, the losses came fast — and instead of stepping back, he doubled down.

He guaranteed investors their principal. Then he offered 50% returns through an electronics deal built on counterfeit products. When that fell apart, he started cycling new investor money to cover old promises. The spiral deepened with every failed show, every new pitch, every lie told to buy more time.

Federal investigators took notice. What followed was an FBI raid, a wire fraud indictment, a gambling spiral that ran through his own trial, bond revocation, and ultimately a three-year federal sentence with $495,000 in restitution — most of which he has now paid back.

Ian opens up about what prison actually taught him, how he rebuilt from the ground up through restaurant work and Whole Foods, and how a single viral TikTok post launched a criminal-justice podcast that now commands serious audiences and notable guests.

This is a story about what happens when ambition outpaces integrity — and what it takes to earn your way back.

Survivor. Addict. Redeemed. Clark Fredericks interviews Armand — NJ native, heroin recovery survivor, childhood abuse survivor & author of He Calls Me Redeemed | Free Like Me Podcast

Armand grew up in New Jersey with Armenian and Italian roots in a close-knit family. At 10 years old, a family friend's husband began abusing him — and the silence that followed set the course for the next decade of his life. By his teens he was dealing drugs, dropping out of high school, and spiraling from marijuana and alcohol to prescription pills and ultimately heroin.
The night he found himself on train tracks with nothing left, he opened a Bible to Psalm 88 and prayed. What happened next he calls a miracle — a call back to Kezik Colony of Mercy, a counselor who walked him through forgiveness, and a faith that held when everything else had failed.

Today Armand is a husband, a father, and the author of He Calls Me Redeemed — and he's urging every survivor to break their silence before it breaks them.

Clark Fredericks sits down with Anne-Marie — a survivor of non-stranger assault who spent decades in silence, then discovered her abuser was running for city council in Melrose, Massachusetts. What she did next took courage. What happened after tested everything. 

Anne-Marie lost her mother at seven and grew up near Boston in a home ruled by an abusive stepmother. As a high school senior on an unsupervised spring break trip to Bermuda, she was sexually assaulted by a male classmate after a night of drinking — an experience she buried for years under shame, silence, and self-doubt.

It wasn't until the Brock Turner case resurfaced her trauma that she reached out to her abuser directly. Then in 2023, a Facebook message from a former roommate revealed he was campaigning for public office. Anne-Marie consulted legal counsel, posted a public statement — and faced denials, smear tactics, and retaliation.

Now she's fighting to strengthen Massachusetts anti-SLAPP and defamation protections so survivors who speak out aren't punished for telling their truth.

Clark Fredericks sits down with Vanna — a survivor of childhood instability, severe abuse, and a terrifying knife incident — who found her way through faith, poetry, and the decision to break the cycle. | Free Like Me Podcast with Clark Fredericks

Vanna grew up in constant chaos. Her mother had her at 13, later battled bipolar disorder and substance abuse, and made stability feel impossible. Her father was incarcerated until she was 13. By high school, Vanna was isolated, depressed, and facing suicidal thoughts with no support system. Then came the night her mother ran at her with a knife — the moment that changed everything.

In this episode, Vanna opens up about CPS involvement, being parentified too young, moving out at 18, and the long road through therapy and numbness before real healing could begin. She talks about how faith, reading, and writing poetry became her lifeline — and why she's choosing stability over the cycles she was raised in.

What happens when a life marked by addiction, crime, and chaos turns into a mission to help others heal?

In this episode of The Free Like Me Podcast, Brian McAlister shares how recovery became the foundation for a new purpose: building MyMentalHealth.org and VRS Freedom 365, a self-guided mental health and recovery program designed with privacy in mind. Brian breaks down the real turning points, what the 12-step process taught him, how he rebuilt his life from the ground up, and why personal accountability and daily habits can completely change your future.

You’ll hear how Brian went from surviving day-to-day to creating tools meant to support people battling addiction, trauma, and mental health challenges. This conversation covers recovery, entrepreneurship, resilience, and the mindset shift that turns setbacks into fuel.

Kelly didn’t just serve, she survived a system that wasn’t built to protect her.

In this episode of Free Like Me, Clark Fredericks sits down with Kelly, a veteran who shares what happened behind the uniform: the night that changed everything, the disorienting aftermath where time didn’t feel real, and the terrifying moment she realized she couldn’t simply “walk away.” Kelly describes the chilling calm of someone who never showed obvious warning signs, and how that silence became its own kind of threat.

Kelly also pulls back the curtain on the culture that many women quietly endure, where young newcomers are treated like targets and speaking up can cost you everything. From testifying about military sexual assault to navigating retaliation, bureaucracy, and trauma recovery, Kelly’s story is a raw look at what it takes to fight for yourself when the system fights back.

This conversation is about more than trauma, it’s about reclaiming power, telling the truth out loud, and rebuilding a life on your terms.

⚠️ Viewer discretion advised: this episode discusses sexual assault, trauma, and PTSD

In this powerful episode of Free Like Me, Clark Fredericks sits down with Julia, who shares her story of surviving childhood sexual abuse and later escaping a dangerous domestic violence relationship. Julia opens up about the warning signs, the fear and control, the moment she realized she had to leave, and the difficult legal fight to protect her child. Today, she uses her voice to support other survivors and prove that healing and safety are possible after trauma.

In this powerful episode of Free Like Me, host Clark Fredericks welcomes Aziza Kibibi, author of “Unashamed: A Life Tainted”, to share her story of survival, healing, and advocacy. Aziza recounts her traumatic upbringing—isolated, homeschooled, and subjected to years of sexual and physical abuse by her father, a once-renowned music video director. Despite enduring unimaginable pain, Aziza found her strength through faith, education, and the power of her voice. Today, she’s a leading advocate for survivors, fighting to reform New Jersey’s incest laws and break generational cycles of silence and shame. This is more than a story—it’s a movement for truth and unashamed healing.

In this powerful episode of Free Like Me, Clark Fredericks sits down with Attorney Jeff Russo, a Warren County, NJ lawyer who has dedicated his career to fighting for victims of child sexual abuse. Russo shares how he entered this line of work, the shocking details behind the Edward Bullock case, and the systemic challenges survivors face within the legal system. From courtroom battles to emotional endurance, Jeff exposes how power, politics, and insurance loopholes can delay justice—and how survivors and advocates are fighting back to change the law.