Ep 36: What Happens When You Choose Yourself for One Year? This Trauma Survivor's Answer

#HowtoHeal #HealingFromTrauma #ChildhoodTrauma #ChoosingYourself Healing from trauma is possible when you finally choose yourself. Ebony Jones-Thomas shares her sexual assault survivor story and how one transformative year changed everything—leading to love, boundaries, and purpose. My guest in this episode is Ebony Jones-Thomas, courageously sharing her journey of overcoming childhood trauma, foster care, grief, and identity after adoption, and multiple assaults. At age 24, she made a decision that transformed her life: taking one full year for people-pleasing recovery and healing from trauma. Our conversation explores PTSD recovery and resilience, how to heal through forgiveness and self-forgiveness, setting boundaries with family and in-laws, faith-based healing, and why choosing yourself equips you for every future challenge. This is Ebony's first time sharing publicly. --- CHAPTERS --- 00:00 Introduction: The moment everything changed 04:50 Ebony's trauma story: Birth through multiple assaults 16:00 Understanding grief and identity after adoption 24:15 The breaking point: Choosing to rewrite her story 27:20 One year of healing: Celibacy, therapy, and self-forgiveness 32:00 Meeting her husband and finding true love 38:10 Mother-in-law rejection and standing firm in healing 45:10 How healing provides tools for future challenges 54:10 Why survivors don't come forward: Me Too insights 58:50 Connecting with Ebony's work and closing thoughts --- CONNECT WITH EBONY --- ✨ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yourrunningrecruiter ✨ Website: YourRunningRecruiter.com --- FREE RESOURCE --- ✨Download: The Healing Quick Start Guide → https://empoweredsurvivors.com/heal --- WORK WITH BETH --- ✨Mentoring (1:1 / group) → https://empoweredsurvivors.com/work-with-me ✨Speaking & Interviews → https://empoweredsurvivors.com/speaking ✨Book: "Becoming an Empowered Survivor" → https://empoweredsurvivors.com/books --- CONNECT WITH BETH --- ✨Website → https://empoweredsurvivors.com/ ✨YouTube | TikTok → @BethJonesHEALingMentor Thank you for watching this video. Click the "SUBSCRIBE" button to stay connected with this podcast. #sexualassaultsurvivors #HealingFromTrauma #ChildhoodTrauma #OvercomingTrauma #PTSDRecovery