EP65: Violence, Trauma & Healing - How Childhood Safety, Attachment & Community Prevent Harm

What if the real question isn't why violence happens... but what was missing long before it did I sit down with Dr. Jeff Todahl, Director of CSAW & Associate Professor at the University of Oregon, to talk about violence prevention, childhood safety, and what it actually takes to reduce harm in real communities. Jeff shares decades of experience at the intersection of child welfare, childhood sexual abuse prevention, intimate partner violence, community response, and survivor-centered healing. Instead of reducing harm to "bad parents" or individual blame, he makes a clear case for prevention as a public health issue rooted in connection, belonging, and support. In this episode, we explore • What childhood safety and wellbeing really mean in lived experience • Why violence grows in isolation and secrecy • The myth of "bad parents" and why shame keeps families silent • Why reacting to harm will never stop it and what prevention looks like upstream • What helps survivors heal when harm has been denied or minimized • Why adult children of emotionally immature or unsafe homes cannot simply move on • What to do if you feel overwhelmed by the scale of violence and fear • How to move one percent closer to safety and self-compassion when you feel broken • What youth say they need from adults to make disclosure safer • Why healing and prevention are inseparable Jeff also speaks candidly about purpose, persistence, community based solutions, and what it takes to stay in the work without shutting down or disconnecting from your body. This episode is for • Survivors who need language for what they lived through • Parents who want support, not shame • Clinicians, educators, advocates, and community members holding heavy stories If you grew up in chaos, high conflict, or fear, this conversation is a reminder that healing does not begin with forgetting. It begins with safety, connection, and truth. Learn more about The Center for Childhood Safety and Wellbeing : https://csaw.uoregon.edu/ — 🎧 Listen on all major platforms 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations on trauma, attachment, nervous system healing, and relational repair 📍 Portland, Oregon #LovingEverythingPodcast #ViolencePrevention #ChildhoodSafety #TraumaHealing #ChildhoodTrauma #ChildWelfare #ChildMaltreatmentPrevention #CSAprevention #DomesticViolenceAwareness #IPV #NervousSystem #ShameAndHealing #CommunityCare #AdultChildrenOfEmotionallyImmatureParents #RelationalTrauma #AttachmentHealing __ Find out more about Andrea Love and her services here: andrea.love Find out more about The House of Healing & Love here: thehouseofhealing.love ___ All production by Cody Maxwell. sharkfyn.com Artwork by Heather Grace Gordy. Opening graphic assets by arakelov and Envato Elements.