Kim opens up about the emotional and verbal abuse she endured in her marriage and how her early relationship with her father shaped her understanding of love long before she ever chose a partner. This episode explores how unmet needs in childhood echo into adulthood, how certain dynamics become familiar, and what it takes to finally see the pattern and break it.

We are the generation living the freedom women before us fought for. This episode explores why expecting respect is not asking too much…it’s the natural result of women finally being treated as fully human.

Are women really more emotional than men — or are their emotions just more visible?

In this episode of I Choose the Bear Podcast, we break down the myth using psychology, neuroscience, and lived experience. We explore how men and women feel emotions at similar levels, why emotional expression looks different, and how women’s emotions are more likely to be questioned, dismissed, or labeled “too much.”

This is a conversation about expression vs. emotion, trauma vs. hysteria, and why clarity — not silence — is strength.

Abuse doesn’t always end when the relationship ends. This episode explores what post-separation abuse can look like: withholding child support, legal intimidation, co-parenting manipulation,

smear campaigns, digital monitoring, and more.

If you’ve lived this, you’ll feel seen. If you haven’t, you’ll understand survivors more deeply.

Listen, share, and bring light to someone walking through the aftermath.

In this episode, I sit down with Em, a woman who spent years trying to make sense of a marriage shaped by manipulation and half-truths. Em shares how deception slowly became the foundation of her relationship — and how she found the clarity and courage to trust her own discernment again.

This conversation explores what happens when trust is abused, when spiritual support falls silent, and when someone finally chooses truth over confusion. Em’s story is a powerful reminder that healing begins the moment we stop protecting the lie and start protecting ourselves.

This episode dives into the truth about forgiveness …the real kind, not the rushed, pressured version so many women are taught to perform. We explore what happens when you’re expected to hold a relationship together alone, even while the other person keeps breaking it apart.

We’re redefining forgiveness:

not as silence, not as reconciliation, not as self-sacrifice… but as clarity, release, and choosing peace over pretending.

If you’ve ever felt like you were the one picking up the pieces, this episode will speak to your soul.

Share it with someone who might need the reminder that she is allowed to protect her peace and her heart.

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses experiences of physical aggression and animal harm.

Abuse doesn’t always look like anger — sometimes it’s calm, mocking, or disguised as humor. This episode unpacks how emotional and psychological abuse can hide in plain sight and how survivors can begin to take their power back.

October is almost over… but what other awareness lives quietly among the rest?

We see pink ribbons and mental health posts.

We honor Down Syndrome and infant loss.

But there’s another story woven through this month …one that isn’t always seen, but deeply felt.

Domestic Violence Awareness.

This isn’t just for survivors.

It’s for all women and the men who stand beside them. Because nearly half of all women have experienced abuse in some form.

That means we all know someone who’s lived it, hidden it, or is still trying to heal from it.

Awareness isn’t just about statistics. It’s about empathy, courage, and change.

As October fades, I’m holding space for all the causes this month carries: the strength, the stories, the awareness, and the healing behind each one.

Domestic Violence Awareness is just one of them.

But like each ribbon this month, it reminds us how deeply human we all are …how connection, compassion, and courage can change everything.

Let’s keep carrying that light forward.

What Abuse Looks Like (Part 3 of 4)

⚠️ Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of physical and sexual abuse. Please listen only if you feel emotionally safe to do so. Take breaks or skip this one if you need to — your safety matters.

In this episode of I Choose the Bear Podcast, I explore three of the most visible and painful forms of abuse — physical, sexual, and financial.

These forms of control are never about anger or money — they’re about power.

This conversation is a space of truth, validation, and healing — for anyone who has ever felt unsafe in their own body or trapped by someone else’s control.

Resources Mentioned:

• National Domestic Violence Hotline – 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

• RAINN (Sexual Assault Hotline) – 1-800-656-4673

• The Allstate Foundation Moving Ahead Program

• National Network to End Domestic Violence

Your body belongs to you. Your safety is sacred. Rise like the phoenix. Find strength like the bear.

Healing doesn’t mean you stop crying — it means your tears start to change.

In this episode, I open up about the quiet grief that lingers after leaving a painful relationship — the ache for the love that never was, the longing for true partnership, and the strength it takes to keep rebuilding.

Through raw honesty and faith, I hope to remind all of us that tears aren’t weakness — they’re release. Because even in the heartbreak and loneliness, God is still filling the cracks with grace, hope, and gold.

This episode is for the woman who still cries, but keeps choosing to heal… to hope… and to rise.