What if the behaviours you were punished for…
labelled for…
or shamed about…
were never the problem at all?

In this deeply honest and confronting episode of Suddenly Different, Leigh-Anne Sharland is joined by Jason Blyth, a youth advocate and speaker whose life was shaped by extreme childhood trauma, violence, neglect, and systemic failure.

Together, Leigh-Anne and Jason explore what happens when children grow up in environments where safety is unpredictable, adults are carrying unhealed wounds, and survival becomes the first language the nervous system learns.

Jason shares his lived experience of growing up in a violent home, being misunderstood and misdiagnosed by the systems meant to protect him, turning to addiction as a survival strategy, and eventually reaching a “suddenly different” moment where choice became the way out.

This is not a story about blame.
It’s a conversation about truth.
About how behaviour is often communication.
About how addiction is often an attempt to cope.
And about how rewriting the story begins when we stop asking, “What’s wrong with you?” and start asking, “What happened to you?”

Together, Leigh-Anne and Jason also turn their attention to youth advocacy and systemic change — questioning how child protection, education, and mental health systems continue to fail vulnerable children, and what must change if we want a safer future for the next generation.

This episode is for:

• anyone who grew up in chaos and learned to adapt to survive

• parents and educators wanting to understand behaviour through a trauma-aware lens

• leaders and policymakers willing to confront uncomfortable truths

• and young people who need to hear this clearly:

You were never the problem.

📝 Show NotesIn this episode, we explore:

• What it feels like to grow up without consistent safety or emotional protection

• How childhood trauma shapes identity, behaviour, and nervous system responses

• Why so many children are mislabelled instead of supported

• Addiction as a survival strategy, not a moral failure

• Jason’s “suddenly different” moment and the power of daily choice

• The role of one safe adult in changing a child’s trajectory

• Why systems focused on symptoms continue to fail vulnerable children

• The urgent need for trauma-literate education, parenting, and policy

• How rewriting the story begins with reclaiming agency and authorship

  
  

Key TakeawayBehaviour is not the problem.
Pain is not the problem.
Survival strategies are not the problem.

The problem is systems that don’t listen, environments that aren’t safe, and a culture that mistakes adaptation for defiance.

And the solution begins with one brave truth:
You are not broken. You were adapting.

Support NoteThis episode includes discussion of childhood trauma, violence, abuse, addiction, and mental health challenges. Please listen with care. If this conversation brings up difficult emotions, consider reaching out to someone you trust or a professional support service in your area.

In Australia, Lifeline is available 24/7 on 13 11 14.

About the PodcastSuddenly Different is a podcast about the moments that change everything — and what we choose to become next.
Hosted by Leigh-Anne Sharland, the show explores lived experience, nervous system truth, identity shifts, and the second-order consequences of life upheavals.

What happens when survival becomes your default — until your body says “no more”?

In this powerful episode of Suddenly Different, financial advisor and Ironman triathlete Amanda Thompson shares her harrowing and inspiring journey through domestic violence, financial trauma, and rebuilding from rock bottom.

After collapsing during a morning run and waking up in a cardiac ward, Amanda discovered she had blood clots from a violent attack a year earlier — hidden scars her body could no longer carry in silence. What followed was a full-body reckoning: with trauma, with denial, and with a lifetime of endurance pushed to its limit.

Amanda speaks with fierce clarity and compassion about:

• The different faces of domestic abuse — including coercive control and financial restriction

• The guilt, shame, and silence that keep women trapped

• Why money is never just money — and how to reclaim your financial voice

• How to begin again — with courage, planning, and support

This is a raw, wise, and deeply human conversation about turning survival into sovereignty.

Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of domestic violence, trauma, and psychological abuse. Please listen with care.

🎧 Guest: Amanda Thompson
💼 Founder, Endurance Financial
📘 Author: Financially Fit Women
🌐 Website: www.endurancefinancial.com.au
🔗 LinkedIn: Amanda Thompson
📩 Speaking enquiries: [email protected]

• Amanda’s “suddenly different” moment and life-threatening collapse

• Financial abuse and how it’s often disguised as “care”

• The impact of coercive control, gaslighting, and identity erosion

• What it means to become your own CFO: Confident, Focused, On top of your Finances

• The link between physical endurance and emotional resilience

• Why we need to teach our daughters — and sons — differently

• How Amanda helps women step into financial autonomy without shame

• From silence to storytelling: the power of owning your truth

If you or someone you know needs support:

• 1800RESPECT – 1800 737 732

• Lifeline – 13 11 14

• Financial Counselling Australia – 1800 007 007

• Women’s Legal Services – [Check your state directory]

• Share it with someone who might need it

• Leave a review or rating on your favourite podcast app

• Connect with us at leigh-annesharland.com or follow Suddenly Different on Instagram

📌 Spotify Show Notes🔥 Topics We Cover:📞 Support Services (Australia)🗣️ If this episode speaks to you:

What if you were asked to write your own eulogy — not once, but twice?

In this deeply honest episode of Suddenly Different, Leigh-Anne Sharland sits with Ashley Jo Janssen, author of Tides of Great Waves of Grace, to explore the moment that radically changed the trajectory of her life.

During addiction recovery, Ashley was asked to write a eulogy as if her life had ended due to substance abuse. Later, she was asked to write a second eulogy — one that reflected a long life shaped by sobriety, healing, forgiveness, and truth. Placing those two eulogies side by side revealed something undeniable: two possible endings, and one powerful choice.

In this conversation, Leigh-Anne and Ashley explore:

• How trauma and unresolved grief shape coping mechanisms

• Why self-forgiveness is one of the hardest and most essential parts of recovery

• The difference between surviving and truly living

• The role of family, faith, and community support in healing

• Why sobriety is not just about abstaining, but relearning how to feel

• And how choosing a little “razzle dazzle” — joy, presence, and intention — can be an act of rebellion and hope

Before you listen, a gentle note: this episode includes references to addiction, grief, and recovery. Please take care and pause if it becomes heavy.

If you’ve ever felt caught between who you’ve been and who you could become, this episode is a reminder that the pen is still in your hand.

Because even after destruction, redemption is possible.
And even after the storm, life can be Suddenly Different.

For more information about Ashley Jo here are the links

website: https://www.thisisashleyjo.com/

book: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0FV134LCV/

Also available on Kindle Unlimited

⚠️ Trigger Warning:
This episode includes discussion of child sexual abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and trauma. Listener discretion is advised.

Silence is not neutral.
Silence is where abuse hides.

In this powerful and unflinching episode of Suddenly Different, I’m joined by Fur Wale, award-winning speaker, founder of SHE Talks, and ambassador for Project Karma.

Together, we break the silence around child sexual exploitation and trafficking — crimes that continue to thrive in secrecy, stigma, and social taboo.

Fur speaks with raw honesty about:

• The global and local reality of child exploitation

• Why silence protects perpetrators and isolates victims

• How grooming, abuse, and trauma hide in plain sight

• The long-term nervous system and identity impact of childhood sexual abuse

• Why speaking openly is not just healing — it is protective

We also explore what ordinary people can do to help protect children, how survivors can reclaim voice without re-traumatisation, and why awareness must lead to action.

This conversation aligns deeply with my advocacy around Taking the Boo out of Taboo — because when we name what is hidden, we reduce its power.
When we speak truth, we create the possibility of safety, justice, and healing.

If this episode brings up difficult emotions, please don’t carry them alone.
In Australia, support is available via Lifeline (13 11 14) or 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
International listeners can find local support at findahelpline.com.

To learn more about Fur’s work, visit shetalks.com.au.
To support or learn about Project Karma’s work in rescuing and rehabilitating children, visit projectkarma.org.au/what-we-do.

Because silence is the abuser’s shield — and voice is how we begin to dismantle it.

What happens after suicide — for the people left behind?

At nineteen, Katie Bingham lost her ex-boyfriend to suicide. In this deeply honest conversation, Katie shares what it truly means to live on after sudden loss — navigating PTSD, numbness, grief, and the long journey back to safety in her body.

Together, we explore how trauma lives in the nervous system, why shutdown and hypervigilance are natural protective responses, and how understanding neurodiversity can change the trajectory from shame to healing. Katie reflects on receiving her ADHD and autism diagnosis later in life, and how that understanding helped her make sense of patterns that began after trauma.

This episode is not about the act of suicide. It is about recovery, choice, embodiment, and creating safe spaces — especially for neurodivergent children — so fewer people carry invisible wounds into adulthood.

A gentle and grounding conversation for anyone living after loss, supporting someone with PTSD, or seeking trauma-informed understanding of the nervous system.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of suicide and mental health. Please take care as you listen and reach out for support if needed.

Midlife is often framed as a slow decline — a time to step back, tone it down, or quietly make room for others. But what if that story is simply wrong?

In this episode of The Suddenly Different Podcast, I’m joined by Susan Braund, coach, mentor and creator of Your Third Act Roadmap, to explore why midlife is not an ending — it’s a strategic turning point.

Susan shares her own suddenly different moment, pivoting from a high-performing career in advertising and media into coaching and behavioural strategy when success no longer felt meaningful. Together, we unpack the four “currencies” she believes matter most in this stage of life:

• Curiosity — staying relevant by asking better questions
• Energy — protecting what fuels you instead of running on empty
• Presence — commanding influence without proving or performing
• Resilience — not endurance, but recovery, rhythm and sustainability

We also explore ageism, identity beyond job titles, the pressure to “do it all,” the impact of social media narratives on midlife women, and how experience becomes a strategic advantage — not a liability.

This is a grounded, honest conversation for women who don’t want to fade out, burn out, or reinvent themselves from scratch — but are ready to realign, choose differently, and design a third act on their own terms.

If you’re navigating change, questioning what’s next, or sensing there’s more available to you than the story you’ve been sold — this episode is for you.

#SuddenlyDifferent #MidlifeWomen #ThirdAct #CareerChange #Resilience #PurposeInMidlife#BurnoutRecovery

Shame is not something we’re born with — it’s something we inherit, absorb, and internalise as we grow.
For many survivors of childhood abuse, shame behaves like an acquired injury: one that deepens as awareness grows, and one that silently shapes identity, boundaries, relationships, and self-worth.

In this powerful and deeply human conversation, Kabinga Mazaba shares the moment her adult life became suddenly different. After decades of carrying secrets, pain, and silence, her body collapsed under the weight of everything she had been holding. In an emergency room, she realised she wasn’t dying — she was suffocating under shame.

This episode explores:
✨ How shame becomes layered through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood
✨ Why repeated life events reinforce our deepest (and false) beliefs about ourselves
✨ The courage it takes to unlearn inherited identities
✨ Self-forgiveness as a foundational step toward self-love
✨ Breaking generational patterns and raising children with truth, safety, and openness
✨ Reclaiming life through choice, voice, and compassion

Kabinga reminds us that healing doesn’t erase what happened — it rewrites what we believe about ourselves. Her story is a testament to courage, truth-telling, and the radical power of choosing a new way forward.

Trigger warning: This episode contains discussions of childhood abuse, shame, and trauma. Please listen with care.

Read Kabinga's Book

C.O.N.F.R.O.N.T. Reclaim Your Life

If you need support:
🇦🇺 Australia – Lifeline 13 11 14
🇺🇸 USA – Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 988

#SuddenlyDifferentPodcast #ChildhoodTrauma #ShameHealing #TraumaRecovery #SelfForgiveness #MentalHealthAwareness #ShameResilience #SurvivorStories #GenerationalHealing #InnerChildHealing #SelfLoveJourney #BreakingSilence #ChooseCourage #TraumaInformed #HealingConversation

What if the moment you fear you're breaking down is actually the moment your body begins to break open?
In this profound conversation, physiotherapist and TRE pioneer Richmond Heath shares the unexpected turning point that reshaped his entire life — a Vipassana meditation where his body began to move on its own.

What could have been dismissed as strange—or even pathologised—became the doorway to liberation.
Richmond takes us inside that moment of spontaneous tremoring, the confusion and awe, and the slow unraveling of chronic pain, burnout, and held-tight survival patterns he didn’t know were running his life.

We explore:

• The difference between breaking down and breaking open

• Why the body remembers how to heal, even when the mind doesn’t

• The ancient roots of tremoring as a natural stress-release mechanism

• Physiological maturity and how it shifts resilience, presence, and emotional capacity

• Why high performers, first responders, and men’s groups are changing through TRE

• The quiet, subtle experiences that become “suddenly different” turning points

Richmond’s story reminds us that surrender isn’t weakness — it’s a biological invitation.
A pathway back to groundedness, clarity, and the freedom to live life from a deeper, steadier place.

If you’ve ever felt like you were holding too much, coping alone, or standing at the edge of burnout, this episode offers a radically compassionate reframe:
Your body may not be breaking down. It may finally be showing you how to come home to yourself.

Learn more about Richmond’s work at treaustralia.com and menergy.org.au.

What happens when two unexpected truths collide and force you to rethink who you are?

For Mitchell Parkins, life changed in a single season. First came the discovery of a long-hidden family secret — an Aboriginal ancestry that instantly reshaped his sense of identity, belonging and lineage. Then came a redundancy that stripped away the “safe” job, the title, and the version of success he’d spent years building.

But instead of breaking him, these moments opened him.

In this grounded and deeply human conversation, Mitch shares how identity, fatherhood, financial upheaval and a trip around Australia cracked him open to a life built on agency, contentment, and conscious choice.

We explore:
• What it feels like to uncover a family truth held in silence for 40 years
• The shame, resistance and beauty of reconnecting with culture
• How redundancy can shape — rather than shatter — your self-worth
• Using money as a tool for freedom instead of a measure of identity
• The difference between striving for “more” and creating contentment
• How fatherhood forces us to revisit our childhood, heal, and decide who we want to become
• Why collapse can create the space we’ve been too afraid to make

This episode is an invitation to anyone navigating change, identity disruptions, life pivots, or the quiet ache of “there must be more than this.”

A powerful reminder that one moment can make us suddenly different — but it’s what we choose next that defines us.

#SuddenlyDifferent #LifePivots #IdentityJourney #RedundancyStory #CareerTransition #PersonalGrowth #FindYourTruth #SelfDiscovery #Agency #Contentment #Fatherhood #AboriginalAncestry #IndigenousConnection #CultureAndIdentity #ReconnectionJourney

For decades, Rachel Pietsch lived under the weight of religious rules, family expectations, and a belief that her feelings, instincts, and voice were somehow wrong. When her husband faced burnout, she was forced into strength — and in that pressure, her inner truth finally broke through.

In this conversation, Rachel shares her journey from being a silenced “church mouse” to becoming a woman who reclaimed her boundaries, questioned everything she was taught, and learned to trust her own voice. She opens up about emotional neglect, breaking harmful family cycles, and the transformative role therapy played in giving her permission to think, choose, and live for herself.

Today, Rachel helps others free their voices too — literally and emotionally.

Her story is a powerful reminder that courage often begins in the smallest moment: a boundary placed, a question asked, a truth spoken out loud.

#SuddenlyDifferent #PodcastConversation #FindingYourVoice #BreakingFree #SelfDiscoveryJourney#PersonalBoundaries #EmotionalHealing #TraumaRecovery
#FaithAndFreedom #HealingJourney #ReclaimingYourVoice
#ResilienceInAction #CourageToChange