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Dr Martina Zangger's story is one of extraordinary resilience and recovery after childhood sexual abuse, and her message, that shame must be taken from the victim and placed on the perpetrator.

Abused at just four years old in Switzerland by her grandfather, a respected judge, and her uncle, a well-known politician, Martina grew up shrouded in silence.

Moving to Australia at 12 years old, In her search for healing, Martina fell in love with an Indian guru at 18 years old, and was invited as a mail order disciple to live in his cult in the U.S, provided she paid $8000 for the privilege. 

So desperate to get to her guru, and with few skills she was talked into becoming a sex worker in Darlinghurst, Sydney at just 19. She eventually made enough money to go to the Ashram but unfortunately all was not what it seemed in 'the brochure!' She was subjected to exploitation and hard labour. Her journey from trauma to survival is confronting but deeply inspiring.

Today, Martina holds a PhD, is an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, and has spent over 20 years working on the frontline with women and children impacted by sexual assault and domestic violence. 

This is an AMAZING episode!

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Sometimes you lose everything, career, marriage, even your sense of self, and there’s no easy way out. That’s exactly what happened to Joshua Tomeoni. Instead of bouncing back, he had to learn how to build a life from scratch, facing every uncomfortable truth along the way.

Josh's new book, 'The Gospel of an Ex-Derelict: Fight. Fail. Rebuild' is out In January 2026. His story isn’t just about surviving, it's about rebuilding against the odds! He went bankrupt, lost his family, and questioned who he even was. But by leaning all the way into the mess, finding the right support, and slowly piecing himself together, he’s spent nearly twenty years helping others through their own F*cked Up events.

Learn more about Joshua at

https://exderelict.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@JoshTheDerelict
https://www.instagram.com/JoshTheDerelict
https://www.tiktok.com/@JoshTomeoni
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuatomeoni/

Book Link coming soon.

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Hi it's me Luke Colson, your host. We are looking for guests to come on our show. If you have experienced something that changed your life, we want to hear from you. Surviving life changing events is what we are all about and we want to talk about the journey through these events and experiences in the hope that we can help others! [email protected]

Meanwhile here is an update from me in this episode as we near the end of Season 5, where we have made it into the top 2% of Podcasts globally!

Thanks to all our listeners!

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This week we re-visit an amazing episode with Sarah Martin, who received a text in the middle of the night from a stranger, saying that her 21 year old Daughter, Alice, who was traveling on the other side of the world, was in trouble. Alice was last seen in Turkey, while Sarah and the rest of the family, live in Australia. This episode is a rollercoaster, as Sarah begins a race to rescue Alice from what appeared to be a psychotic break, in a city thousands of miles away. Sarah has written a book about the ordeal, and you can listen to it first hand in this raw, emotional and incredible episode! 'Dear Psychosis', is Sarah's debut book and is an account of her family's experience following their daughter's first-ever psychotic episode and the trauma that ensued. It is a story of recovery, hope and the power of family.
LINKS FOR SARAH:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-martin123
Webpage: Sarah Martin Author - Psychosis, Author
Tiktok: SarahMartinAuthor (@sarahmartinauthor) | TikTok                 
Instagram: Sarah Martin (@sarahmartin.author) • Instagram photos and videos
Facebook: (3) Facebook
Amazon : Dear Psychosis, eBook : Martin, Sarah: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

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What if one of the most devastating, life-altering experiences isn’t visible from the outside but silently shatters someone’s identity, relationships, and sense of control?

As a Harvard-trained fertility specialist, Gabriela Rosa, has spent over 20 years working with individuals and couples whose lives were flipped upside down by the heartbreak of not being able to conceive. She’s walked beside thousands through the silent trauma of repeated loss, the mental health fallout of failed attempts, the breakdown of marriages, and the overwhelming isolation that comes when your body doesn’t do what it’s “supposed to.”

The pain is real - even though the world often dismisses it. And the recovery? It requires an entirely new way of relating to your body, your dreams, and your definition of self-worth.

Gabriela comes with the collective stories of the people she’s helped through their darkest, most vulnerable moments. She believes that behind every fertility challenge is a human experience of trauma, and she has powerful insight into what healing looks like when life doesn’t go as planned. Thanks Gabriela for an amazing chat!

Site: https://fertilitybreakthrough.com

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Shigeko Ito, is an educator, mental health advocate, and author of THE POND BEYOND THE FOREST: Reflections on Childhood Trauma & Motherhood. 

She grew up in Japan and immigrated to America in her twenties to pursue higher education, earning a PhD in Education from Stanford University. Drawing on cross-cultural experiences and academic expertise, she explores themes of trauma, resilience, and healing, with a particular focus on childhood emotional neglect, and severe and very scary mental health problems, including psychosis, as she struggled to recover from complex PTSD.

For many years, she worked at a Montessori preschool in Seattle, Washington, where she lives with her husband of thirty years. Her articles have appeared on the CPTSD Foundation’s blog and on the ADAA (Anxiety and Depression Association of America) website. 

Shigeko recognized a need for change in her life as a mother and was committed to breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma and she shares how writing has helped her to understand and heal herself.

Website: shigekoito.com

Facebook: facebook.com/shigekoitomemoir

Instagram: instagram.com/shigekochakoito

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shigekoito-memoir

Twitter/X: x.com/ShigekoChakoIto

Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/shigekoito.bsky.social

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Severn Lang is a talented, driven director from Urbandale, Iowa. Growing up in a small town in the Midwest, life was a constant struggle for him. At a young age, Severn's brother passed away and he was diagnosed with extreme dyslexia with other life changing events, making school much harder for him than his peers. Severn, he turned to other, more creative outlets to learn, grow and find his voice. Severn preferred hands on learning to the classroom, and was able to find solace in the Boy Scouts of America, art, music, poems and mechanics. He became an Eagle Scout at sixteen and learned patience and leadership skills that he still applies to his directing and film endeavors today. In his creative endeavors,  Severn would often help hair stylists on set and discovered that he had a knack for the artistry in hair. A life decision to  attend The Professional Cosmetology Institute, located in Ames, Iowa. With his new skill he was able to move to Los Angeles where the film seed was planted and took root and blossom from the creative waters with in Los Angeles. With hopes and dreams a rise, tragedy always happens. With in Severn tragedy story he found help in unlikely places. With in the rooms of Recovery he was able work through the dirty waters of addiction in to the man he is now. With one day at a time over 10 years he has tied the long days together to make a life for him self. Severn moved to Los Angeles, where he spent ten plus years working as a hair stylist, while simultaneously pursuing opportunities in film. Thank you for such a wonderful honest discussion Severn!

Site: https://www.severnlang.com/

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This week we are thrilled to chat to Gil Merrick, author of the powerful memoir Haunted Victory: Healing From Childhood Sexual Abuse and the Decades of Addiction That Followed. His story is raw, deeply personal, and ultimately one of resilience and redemption. In Haunted Victory, Gil recounts his experience as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and how that trauma fueled a decades-long battle with addiction. His memoir isn’t just about pain, it's also about healing. With striking honesty, Gil shares the long, often difficult journey of reclaiming his life, relationships, and sense of self. This episode details Gil’s story and we discuss themes of SA and other adult themes. 

Book: https://a.co/d/1F7thBU

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CONTENT WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT, VIOLENCE, SEXUAL VIOLENCE, MURDER, TORTURE, SEXUAL ABUSE, CHILD ABDUCTION: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED PLEASE OBSERVE:

When Shasta Groene was eight years old, she and her 9-year-old brother Dylan were abducted from their Idaho home by serial killer, Joseph Edward Duncan. After a forty-eight-day ordeal, she was rescued, her brother wasn’t. Surviving those weeks in the woods was only the beginning of her harrowing journey. In the following years she struggled to outrun her trauma, a pattern of self-destructive behavior shadowing her like an ever-worsening thunderstorm. But she still had hope buried deep inside, every bit as much as the little girl who had been held captive in the woods. This would be an all-new battle for Shasta. And she was determined not to lose.

In this EXCLUSIVE Part 1 Episode, Shasta recounts in graphic and harrowing detail, the events leading up and including the murder of her family in front of her, and her abduction and the forty-eight day ordeal and her eventual escape!

Shasta’s experience has been turned into an amazing book by #1 New York Times Best Selling author Gregg Olsen who will feature along with Shasta in Part 2.  

The book is: ‘OUT OF THE WOODS: A Girl, a Killer, and Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home’

Gregg was able to get Shasta to open up and share her trauma. He is a true talent and an impassioned voice for victims and their families. Olsen has been a guest on Dateline, 48 Hours, 20/20, Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, Today, FOX News, CNN, Anderson Cooper, MSNBC, Entertainment Tonight, Snapped, Forensic Files, Inside Edition, Nancy Grace, Extra, Access Hollywood, NPR and Biography, among dozens of other shows. 

We can’t wait to have them both on for PART 2 to understand Shasta’s continued trauma recovery from this utterly devastating ordeal. 

Thank you Shasta we are blessed to have you.

Out Of The Woods: https://a.co/d/1l3GoP9

Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Edward_Duncan

Shasta’s GoFundMe link - It directly supports her and her children with living expenses and essentials. Here’s the link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-shasta-groene-and-her-children

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Gina Horan, is a terminal lung cancer survivor and author of The Dead Girl’s Guide to Terminal Cancer, 

Gina joins us to share her story and an uncensored survivor’s perspective on cancer, immunotherapy, and why the modern medical system is failing itself and its patients.

In 2019, Gina was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given just 72 hours to live after a year of declining health and mistreatment by some medical professionals. Nearly six years later, she is cancer-free and healthier than ever. In The Dead Girl’s Guide to Terminal Cancer, Gina shares her remarkable journey to show that survival is possible—even when doctors say otherwise. 

CONTENT WARNING: Our listers should know that this at times, can be a hard listen, with discussions about near death and despair. But, Gina is here, and has a great sense of humor to add! 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/59zlJlE

Substack: http://substack.com/@eugeniahoran

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