"I'm nearly 50 years old and only recently allowed to work on myself."

This episode explores one of the most profound questions a survivor can ask: "Who am I now?" Not who I had to be. Not who I learned to become in order to survive. But who I actually am.

It reflects on the person who existed before, carefree, fearless, fully alive, and traces how that person didn't disappear. She adapted. She learned to stay small, question herself, and ignore her own needs. And now she is gently unlearning all of it.

It also explores what healing looks like in real, unglamorous terms, music triggers leaving a person exhausted, a birthday party sending someone to the bathroom in tears, calling a loved one just to hear their voice.

And it speaks to the survivors still wondering whether they lost themselves, with a quietly powerful effect. You didn't lose yourself either. The person you were before, the one who was curious and carefree and fully alive, is still there. Buried maybe. But still there.

"I didn't lose myself. I adapted. But that adaptation came with a cost. And now I'm learning how to live as the person I've always been, the part of me that never left."

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The personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. 

The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. 

The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.

For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I'm so tired of him slipping into moments that should be mine."

This episode explores what it can feel like when a buried memory surfaces without warning, pulling a survivor straight back into a moment the brain had hidden just to make functioning possible.

It explores what freezing looks like in those moments. The urge to cross the room and comfort someone. The silence that follows. The panic attack that comes later in the dark.

It then breaks down the neuroscience of self-blame, why protective parents blame themselves for things they could not control, why self-blame becomes a survival strategy, and why the guilt survivors carry is not a character flaw but a core symptom of CPTSD.

It also speaks directly to the hypervigilant parent, the one whose nervous system never fully turned off after the danger ended, who still scans for threats, still intervenes before harm can happen, and still struggles to let their adult children simply be adults.

"We should not be paying the lifelong cost of the system's failure through diagnoses like CPTSD. And our children should not be paying with their childhoods."

This episode contains an optional 12-minute skip for listeners who find flashback content activating.

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The personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. 

The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. 

The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.

For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"Are you listening?"

This episode is different. It is not a story. It is not a clinical explanation. It is a direct appeal, spoken on behalf of survivors everywhere, to the judges, lawmakers, attorneys, and every person whose decisions determine the safety and futures of abuse survivors and their children.

It explores the cost to survivors when the system doesn't listen. What PTSD actually looks like in a courtroom. What happens when documentation is ignored. What it means when adult children are silenced by the very system that was supposed to protect them.

It sounds the alarm on the defunding of shelters and victim services, pulling the safety net strand by strand while asking survivors why they can't climb out.

It also asks the question that millions of survivors have been asking for decades: why are we still asking why she didn't just leave instead of asking why our country didn't help her feel safe enough to go?

Change is coming. Survivors are speaking. Children are finding their voices. And this time the world will not be able to look away.

Disclaimer:
The statements in this episode describe personal experience and widely documented systemic issues in family courts. They are not directed at any specific judge, attorney, or individual, and no reference is made to any identifiable person or case. Any resemblance to real individuals is coincidental and unintentional.

The content of this episode is opinion-based, experience-based, and advocacy-driven.
It should not be treated as legal advice, nor as a factual claim about any public official. Its purpose is to push for safer systems, accountability, and a future where survivors and children are truly heard.

Send us Fan Mail

The personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. 

The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. 

The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.

For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I'm looking at pictures of you for the first time in years and my heart is racing. My chest is tight. I'm shaking. I've spent less than 10 seconds looking."

This episode explores how a specific voice and a specific band became one of the most powerful PTSD triggers a survivor can carry, not because of who the artist is, but because of the environment their music once filled.

It walks through every physical sensation of a PTSD trigger, the tingling, the numbness, the nausea, the shaking, the dissociation, and explains exactly what is happening neurologically when the body reacts before the mind can catch up.

It also walks through the process of exposure therapy in real time, the fear, the stopping, the starting again, the cooking dinner with the music playing in the background, and the slow, hard work of building new associations.

And it finds something unexpected along the way, compassion. For the artist. For the survivor. And ultimately, the strength to separate the two.

"He took so much of my life from me. I will not give him anything else."

This episode contains a personal note: all references to Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses describe the host's own trauma response only and imply no wrongdoing by these individuals.

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The personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. 

The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. 

The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.

For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"Have you ever wished there were no holidays at all? No long weekends? No extra time at home? Because extra time at home means extra time with the person hurting you?"

This episode explores the hidden reality of the holidays for abuse survivors, why domestic violence incidents rise by as much as 20% this time of year, why extra togetherness brings dread instead of joy, and why leaving during the holidays is often the most dangerous time to try.

It walks through the financial traps that can arise during the holiday season, big purchases, joint credit, draining savings, using children's gifts as a form of control, and explores why these tactics are designed to make leaving harder.

It also speaks directly to survivors navigating abusive family of origin relationships, the manipulation of religious language, and the truth about no contact; you do not owe anyone your holiday just because they share your blood.

This episode closes with a guided self-compassion exercise for survivors.

You are worthy of love. You deserve safety. Not someday. Right now.

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The personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. 

The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. 

The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.

For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"You're never backsliding. You're always higher in elevation than when you started."

In this episode, your host welcomes Tara Floersch, a licensed clinical social worker and trauma specialist at Conscious Healing Counseling in Minnesota, and the therapist who built a unique collaboration that brings therapy directly to the Alexandra House shelter.

Tara breaks down the neuroscience of trauma in plain language, why triggers feel like they're happening right now even years later, why the fawn response is the most common survival reaction in domestic violence, and why leaving can actually feel more unsafe to the brain than staying.

She explains the critical difference between PTSD and Complex PTSD, what inner child work has to do with relationship patterns, and why your brain's love of predictability can keep survivors drawn back to what hurt them.

She also tackles the practical barriers, what to do if your abuser controls the insurance, how to find a DV-informed therapist, and how Alexandra House now offers free walk-in counseling with no insurance needed.

You are always in the driver's seat in therapy. This episode will help you understand what that means and why it matters.

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The personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. 

The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. 

The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.

For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"You do not know what loneliness is until you have encountered a narcissistic relationship in your life."

This episode explores why narcissistic abuse is a universal problem that crosses every culture, country, and community, and why the patterns are always the same regardless of where you live.

Shweta Nema, corporate professional, survivor of narcissistic abuse, author of Unmasking the Evil, and global advocate, breaks down the key tactics narcissists use: trauma bonding, triangulation, mirroring, gaslighting, smear campaigns, and financial abuse.

The conversation also explores the difference between someone with narcissistic traits and someone with full-blown narcissistic personality disorder, and what the path to healing can look like after 15 years in a narcissistic relationship.

Two survivors from opposite sides of the world. The same story. Proof that abuse knows no borders, and neither does healing.

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The personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. 

The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. 

The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.

For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"18 children were murdered in 20 months in one state. 15 of them were already in the system."

This episode explores one of the most urgent and least understood realities facing abuse survivors: what happens when family court becomes another tool of control.

Christine, owner and coach of Leto Advisors and Advocates, shares her journey navigating an international custody battle across two US states, being accused of Munchausen by proxy and parental alienation, and ultimately turning her case around to protect her children.

The conversation breaks down DARVO, the manipulation tactic abusers use to flip the script and make survivors appear to be the problem, and explores why family court often mislabels one-sided abuse as a two-person conflict.

It also covers Kayden's Law, what it means for survivors, why criminal and family courts don't communicate, the danger of reunification camps, and practical strategies for navigating a high-conflict divorce without losing yourself or your children.

There is a gap between what your attorney handles and what your therapist handles. This episode explains exactly why that matters, and what fills that gap.

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The personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. 

The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. 

The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.

For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I didn't even know I was in an abusive relationship until I found a shelter. Nobody was telling me. I couldn't explain it myself."

This episode explores what domestic violence shelters actually do, and why emergency housing is a band-aid, not a cure.

Jenny Green, Housing and Supportive Services Director of Alexandra House, walks through what transitional housing, case management, and ongoing support really look like for families starting over with nothing.

She also shares the brand new Linus Pet Haven program, making Alexandra House the first domestic violence shelter in the metro area to allow families to bring their pets, removing one of the most heartbreaking barriers to leaving.

The conversation covers the real barriers survivors face: no credit, no job history, unaffordable rent, children's schools, and abusers who use pets, cell phones, and parental alienation threats to keep families trapped. And it sounds the alarm on federal funding cuts that could set victim services back a hundred years.

If you have ever wondered what a domestic violence shelter actually does, or how you can help, this episode is for you.

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The personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. 

The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. 

The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.

For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

He told her she would never leave that house unless it was in a pine box.

In this episode, your host welcomes her very first guest- award-winning performer, comedian, singer, songwriter, and playwright Maryann Maisano. Known for turning life's heaviest truths into something relatable, honest, and even funny, Maryann brings both heart and humor to one of the podcast's most powerful conversations.

Maryann shares the story of her sister Angie, decades of physical abuse, four concussions, stab wounds, and a judge who cried when he finally saw her arms. Angie escaped during COVID and passed away three years ago. Her story is one of loss, legacy, and a call to action.

Together, they talk about growing up with the Italian concept of "figorra", saving face no matter what, and how unspoken rules and family silence around abuse create the conditions for it to continue.

They also discuss women's rights, political pushback, positive self-talk, healing, and Maryann's vision for building a national network of survivors demanding change.

Taking off the mask is terrifying. But it's the only way anything changes.

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The personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. 

The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. 

The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.

For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.