Hang In There

"I see clearly now. And I still love her."Two voices share this episode. One is inside the story, young, hopeful, learning what love is supposed to feel like. The other is watching her. Quietly. From a place of hard-won clarity. Not to warn her. Not to intervene. Just to witness her with the tenderness she always deserved.What follows is an intimate journey through survival, from the earliest moments when something inside her knew, to the years of losing herself quietly, to the day she finally found her voice and walked out for the last time.And through all of it, Now is there. Watching. Waiting. Loving her anyway.If you have ever looked back at an earlier version of yourself with shame or frustration or grief, this episode is an invitation to try something different. To find the part of you that sees everything you were carrying and still loves you for how hard you tried.That voice exists inside you. This episode will help you find it.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"You weren't silent because you approved. You were silent because you loved me."Walking into a small entryway. Physically and emotionally exhausted. Carrying bags, holding onto dogs, trying to hold onto the kids. Trying to hold onto myself.And you just… made room for us.In this episode I write a letter to my parents. To the people who loved me through something they couldn't fully see. Who stayed available even when they didn't know what to say. Who watched me go back again and again and kept the door open anyway.Tuesday phone calls on a landline. Lawyers who couldn't help. Missed holidays that slowly became normal. A magic wand no one could wave. And a voice in the background saying three words that changed everything.This episode is for every survivor who never found the words to tell their family what those years cost them. For every parent who watched their child disappear and didn't know whether speaking up would help or make things worse. For the child waiting to hear the door is still open. For the parent waiting for them to walk back through it. And for every survivor whose family wasn't there at all, this episode holds space for you too.Coercive control doesn't just affect the person living inside it. It spreads outward quietly. Into families. Into silence. Into the way everyone around it learns to survive too.Love doesn't always look the way we expect it to. Sometimes it looks like a door that stayed open.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"It can disrupt what you have. It can damage it. It doesn't erase what was real."There's a photograph I think about sometimes.All of us at the end of the driveway. Shorts and smiles. Not a care in the world.I didn't know then how much would change. How quietly it would happen. How one day I would look back at that photograph and try to remember what easy felt like.In this episode I write a letter to my siblings. To the ones who were always supposed to be there, and to the relationships that changed slowly, quietly, before any of us realized what was happening.Wrestling matches on living room couch cushions. Hockey in boots. A dirt-bike driven straight into a fence. Bunk beds and late night conversations. The first person I called when something big happened.And then, the drift. The isolation that looked like pulling away but wasn't. An envelope full of documentation. Going back anyway. And an email typed with shaking hands, words that weren't mine, that broke something that had always felt easy.For years there was silence. And then, pizza with no plates and no cups. And the slow imperfect work of finding our way back.This episode is for every survivor who lost family connections during the hardest years. For every family member who watched someone they loved disappear and didn't understand why. And for anyone carrying grief over relationships that coercive control quietly damaged.The distance wasn't what it seemed. And some things, even after everything, don't erase. Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"Something in me began again. And this time, I wasn't imagining it. I was living it."For years, she dreamed of a different life while lying on a basement floor.Someone kind. Someone steady. Someone she could trust. Someone who would love her children. She could see it. She could feel it. And then reality pulled her back- up the stairs, mask on, keep going.She had no idea that life was already on its way.This episode is a love story.A letter written to the person who found her again after everything, and chose to stay.A waving emoji sent with shaking hands after 25 years of silence. Hard chairs and three hours that disappeared. Learning that stopping along the way was allowed. Feeling like an adult again for the first time in a long time.And what happens when someone shows up with safe, steady love, and stays. Even when it's hard. Even when it's heavy. Even when the past comes back all at once.For survivors still learning what safe love feels like after trauma, this one is for you.For the partners choosing to stay and love someone through it, this one is for you too.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"You felt 30 years old when you were only 10. And I am so sorry."In this episode, a mother writes a letter to her children. To the ones who grew up inside something they didn't have words for, but felt in their bodies every single day.The hospital room where everything went quiet. The birthdays, the snickerdoodles, the car rides that felt safer than being home. The holidays that felt heavy. The stairs where little ears heard things they never should have. The two realities happening inside the same house at the same time.They never asked why she left. Because they already knew.This episode is for every parent carrying the weight of what their children lived through. For every adult child still making sense of a childhood that asked too much of them. And for anyone who has ever looked at a family and thought, they seem fine.They weren't always fine.Children inside coercive control witness it, absorb it, and many experience it directly. It is never too late to say- I see it now. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve any of it.And thank you.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"If it could happen to me, it can happen to anyone." - Dr. Christine CocchiolaIn this episode, your host sits down with Dr. Christine Cocchiola, one of the most trusted voices in the field of coercive control, for a conversation about something so many survivors know deeply but struggle to explain. The words were never lost. They were taken.The house where the rules keep changing. The child who learns to listen for footsteps. The adult partner who feels careful, confused, and smaller, without ever being able to say exactly why.Dr. Cocchiola walks us through what coercive control actually feels like from the inside. The grooming that feels like love. The isolation that feels like care. The moment you realize the cage has been getting smaller for years. And why survivors so often can't explain what happened to them, not because nothing happened, but because the confusion was intentional.This conversation also goes deeper, into how children feel coercive control in their bodies before they ever have words for it. Into why abusers choose the people they choose. And into what becomes possible when language finally returns.Because naming what happened is often where healing begins.Learn more about Dr. Cocchiola at www.coercivecontrolconsulting.com, listen to her podcast Perfect Prey, and watch her TEDx Talk "It's All Coercive Control" here.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

A message to the survivors who are still living inside abuse- You are not forgotten.This episode of Hang In There is dedicated to the survivors who are still living inside abuse.To those who cannot safely leave yet.To those who cannot speak yet.To those who are doing everything they can just to make it through another day.If you are listening quietly, please know this: you are not alone, and you are not forgotten.Survivors around the world are speaking, building communities, and working to create systems that finally protect families and children. This episode is a message of recognition, solidarity, and hope.If you are able, please help share this episode so it can reach the survivors who may need to hear it most.We speak.We rise.We protect the next one.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"From the outside, it can look like someone simply went to work. They showed up. They did their job. They made it through the day."In this episode, you are walked through one ordinary day as a trauma survivor, hour by hour, from the moment your eyes open at 5 am to the moment you pull into the driveway.The scanning before getting out of bed. The checking inside the car before getting in. The three shots of espresso just to function. The mascara that still triggers a memory every single morning. The trucks on the highway that flood your body before your mind can catch up.The unpredictable work assignment that throws your nervous system completely. The background music you screen all day while trying to do your job. The moment you run out of the room, covering your ears. The coworker who leaves his own break to help you take yours.And the quiet, devastating realization mid-shift, "you are trapped. Just like you were in the trucks. Just like you were in the house."This episode is for every survivor who has ever shown up to their life while fighting a battle nobody else could see. And for everyone who loves a survivor and wants to understand what that battle actually looks like.Trauma doesn't just live in memory. It lives in the nervous system. And sometimes the strongest thing a person can do is simply get through the day.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I'm nearly 50 years old and only recently allowed to work on myself."This episode explores one of the most profound questions a survivor can ask: "Who am I now?" Not who I had to be. Not who I learned to become in order to survive. But who I actually am.It reflects on the person who existed before, carefree, fearless, fully alive, and traces how that person didn't disappear. She adapted. She learned to stay small, question herself, and ignore her own needs. And now she is gently unlearning all of it.It also explores what healing looks like in real, unglamorous terms, music triggers leaving a person exhausted, a birthday party sending someone to the bathroom in tears, calling a loved one just to hear their voice.And it speaks to the survivors still wondering whether they lost themselves, with a quietly powerful effect. You didn't lose yourself either. The person you were before, the one who was curious and carefree and fully alive, is still there. Buried maybe. But still there."I didn't lose myself. I adapted. But that adaptation came with a cost. And now I'm learning how to live as the person I've always been, the part of me that never left."Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I'm so tired of him slipping into moments that should be mine."This episode explores what it can feel like when a buried memory surfaces without warning, pulling a survivor straight back into a moment the brain had hidden just to make functioning possible.It explores what freezing looks like in those moments. The urge to cross the room and comfort someone. The silence that follows. The panic attack that comes later in the dark.It then breaks down the neuroscience of self-blame, why protective parents blame themselves for things they could not control, why self-blame becomes a survival strategy, and why the guilt survivors carry is not a character flaw but a core symptom of CPTSD.It also speaks directly to the hypervigilant parent, the one whose nervous system never fully turned off after the danger ended, who still scans for threats, still intervenes before harm can happen, and still struggles to let their adult children simply be adults."We should not be paying the lifelong cost of the system's failure through diagnoses like CPTSD. And our children should not be paying with their childhoods."This episode contains an optional 12-minute skip for listeners who find flashback content activating.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"Are you listening?"This episode is different. It is not a story. It is not a clinical explanation. It is a direct appeal, spoken on behalf of survivors everywhere, to the judges, lawmakers, attorneys, and every person whose decisions determine the safety and futures of abuse survivors and their children.It explores the cost to survivors when the system doesn't listen. What PTSD actually looks like in a courtroom. What happens when documentation is ignored. What it means when adult children are silenced by the very system that was supposed to protect them.It sounds the alarm on the defunding of shelters and victim services, pulling the safety net strand by strand while asking survivors why they can't climb out.It also asks the question that millions of survivors have been asking for decades: why are we still asking why she didn't just leave instead of asking why our country didn't help her feel safe enough to go?Change is coming. Survivors are speaking. Children are finding their voices. And this time the world will not be able to look away.Disclaimer: The statements in this episode describe personal experience and widely documented systemic issues in family courts. They are not directed at any specific judge, attorney, or individual, and no reference is made to any identifiable person or case. Any resemblance to real individuals is coincidental and unintentional.The content of this episode is opinion-based, experience-based, and advocacy-driven.It should not be treated as legal advice, nor as a factual claim about any public official. Its purpose is to push for safer systems, accountability, and a future where survivors and children are truly heard.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I'm looking at pictures of you for the first time in years and my heart is racing. My chest is tight. I'm shaking. I've spent less than 10 seconds looking."This episode explores how a specific voice and a specific band became one of the most powerful PTSD triggers a survivor can carry, not because of who the artist is, but because of the environment their music once filled.It walks through every physical sensation of a PTSD trigger, the tingling, the numbness, the nausea, the shaking, the dissociation, and explains exactly what is happening neurologically when the body reacts before the mind can catch up.It also walks through the process of exposure therapy in real time, the fear, the stopping, the starting again, the cooking dinner with the music playing in the background, and the slow, hard work of building new associations.And it finds something unexpected along the way, compassion. For the artist. For the survivor. And ultimately, the strength to separate the two."He took so much of my life from me. I will not give him anything else."This episode contains a personal note: all references to Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses describe the host's own trauma response only and imply no wrongdoing by these individuals.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"Have you ever wished there were no holidays at all? No long weekends? No extra time at home? Because extra time at home means extra time with the person hurting you?"This episode explores the hidden reality of the holidays for abuse survivors, why domestic violence incidents rise by as much as 20% this time of year, why extra togetherness brings dread instead of joy, and why leaving during the holidays is often the most dangerous time to try.It walks through the financial traps that can arise during the holiday season, big purchases, joint credit, draining savings, using children's gifts as a form of control, and explores why these tactics are designed to make leaving harder.It also speaks directly to survivors navigating abusive family of origin relationships, the manipulation of religious language, and the truth about no contact; you do not owe anyone your holiday just because they share your blood.This episode closes with a guided self-compassion exercise for survivors.You are worthy of love. You deserve safety. Not someday. Right now.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"You're never backsliding. You're always higher in elevation than when you started."In this episode, your host welcomes Tara Floersch, a licensed clinical social worker and trauma specialist at Conscious Healing Counseling in Minnesota, and the therapist who built a unique collaboration that brings therapy directly to the Alexandra House shelter.Tara breaks down the neuroscience of trauma in plain language, why triggers feel like they're happening right now even years later, why the fawn response is the most common survival reaction in domestic violence, and why leaving can actually feel more unsafe to the brain than staying.She explains the critical difference between PTSD and Complex PTSD, what inner child work has to do with relationship patterns, and why your brain's love of predictability can keep survivors drawn back to what hurt them.She also tackles the practical barriers, what to do if your abuser controls the insurance, how to find a DV-informed therapist, and how Alexandra House now offers free walk-in counseling with no insurance needed.You are always in the driver's seat in therapy. This episode will help you understand what that means and why it matters.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"You do not know what loneliness is until you have encountered a narcissistic relationship in your life."This episode explores why narcissistic abuse is a universal problem that crosses every culture, country, and community, and why the patterns are always the same regardless of where you live.Shweta Nema, corporate professional, survivor of narcissistic abuse, author of Unmasking the Evil, and global advocate, breaks down the key tactics narcissists use: trauma bonding, triangulation, mirroring, gaslighting, smear campaigns, and financial abuse.The conversation also explores the difference between someone with narcissistic traits and someone with full-blown narcissistic personality disorder, and what the path to healing can look like after 15 years in a narcissistic relationship.Two survivors from opposite sides of the world. The same story. Proof that abuse knows no borders, and neither does healing.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"18 children were murdered in 20 months in one state. 15 of them were already in the system."This episode explores one of the most urgent and least understood realities facing abuse survivors: what happens when family court becomes another tool of control.Christine, owner and coach of Leto Advisors and Advocates, shares her journey navigating an international custody battle across two US states, being accused of Munchausen by proxy and parental alienation, and ultimately turning her case around to protect her children.The conversation breaks down DARVO, the manipulation tactic abusers use to flip the script and make survivors appear to be the problem, and explores why family court often mislabels one-sided abuse as a two-person conflict.It also covers Kayden's Law, what it means for survivors, why criminal and family courts don't communicate, the danger of reunification camps, and practical strategies for navigating a high-conflict divorce without losing yourself or your children.There is a gap between what your attorney handles and what your therapist handles. This episode explains exactly why that matters, and what fills that gap.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I didn't even know I was in an abusive relationship until I found a shelter. Nobody was telling me. I couldn't explain it myself."This episode explores what domestic violence shelters actually do, and why emergency housing is a band-aid, not a cure.Jenny Green, Housing and Supportive Services Director of Alexandra House, walks through what transitional housing, case management, and ongoing support really look like for families starting over with nothing.She also shares the brand new Linus Pet Haven program, making Alexandra House the first domestic violence shelter in the metro area to allow families to bring their pets, removing one of the most heartbreaking barriers to leaving.The conversation covers the real barriers survivors face: no credit, no job history, unaffordable rent, children's schools, and abusers who use pets, cell phones, and parental alienation threats to keep families trapped. And it sounds the alarm on federal funding cuts that could set victim services back a hundred years.If you have ever wondered what a domestic violence shelter actually does, or how you can help, this episode is for you.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

He told her she would never leave that house unless it was in a pine box.In this episode, your host welcomes her very first guest- award-winning performer, comedian, singer, songwriter, and playwright Maryann Maisano. Known for turning life's heaviest truths into something relatable, honest, and even funny, Maryann brings both heart and humor to one of the podcast's most powerful conversations.Maryann shares the story of her sister Angie, decades of physical abuse, four concussions, stab wounds, and a judge who cried when he finally saw her arms. Angie escaped during COVID and passed away three years ago. Her story is one of loss, legacy, and a call to action.Together, they talk about growing up with the Italian concept of "figorra", saving face no matter what, and how unspoken rules and family silence around abuse create the conditions for it to continue.They also discuss women's rights, political pushback, positive self-talk, healing, and Maryann's vision for building a national network of survivors demanding change.Taking off the mask is terrifying. But it's the only way anything changes.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I have makeup on. I know what's coming."This episode opens with one of the most powerful moments in the podcast, putting on mascara as a quiet act of defiance, and the stare that followed. No words needed. No rule was ever spoken out loud. And yet the consequences were immediate.It explores exactly what coercive control is, the isolation, the monitoring, the micromanagement, the financial abuse, the gaslighting, and explains how it differs from emotional abuse. Coercive control isn't just about hurting you; it's about owning you. It's calculated, constant, and designed to eliminate your freedom entirely.It also explores how missing a nephew's birthday party and cancelling lunch with a sister can be the first signs of a quiet unraveling, and how those moments often go unrecognized until years later.It covers what the law says about coercive control, and the UK, Scotland, Ireland, and Australia have criminalized it, while the US continues to lag behind, and it walks survivors through exactly how to document it to build a stronger legal case.If you have ever lived by rules that were never spoken out loud, this episode will finally give you the words for what you experienced.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I found myself parroting beliefs I didn't hold, just to stay safe enough to finish a phone call."This episode explores a question that abuse makes almost impossible to answer: What does it mean to be a woman? And what happens to a woman's identity when conditioning has been quietly shaping her thoughts, beliefs, and sense of self for years?It explores implicit memory, how the body learns to react to danger cues like a garage door opening or a tone of voice before the conscious mind even catches up, and how this survival mechanism silently shapes choices, beliefs, and identity without awareness.It also draws a powerful and uncomfortable connection between the cultural expectations placed on women and the dynamics of an abusive relationship, and asks whether we are truly teaching our girls what they deserve.This episode includes a guided exercise to help survivors begin asking the questions abuse never let them ask: who am I really, what do I believe, and what brings me joy?Your identity was not lost. It was taken. And you can take it back.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I laid on the bathroom floor for over two hours. My cats found me first."This episode explores what PTSD can look like years after leaving an abusive relationship, the triggers that strike without warning, the panic attacks, and the guilt of watching trauma affect the healthy relationships that were supposed to feel safe.It breaks down what PTSD actually looks like in abuse survivors and their children, including infants, and shares the devastating statistics about how abuse rewires developing brains.It then tackles one of the most painful and least talked about realities of leaving abuse, the family court. With 58,000 children a year ordered into unsupervised contact with abusive parents, and mothers who allege abuse losing custody 73% of the time, this episode asks the question that demands an answer: Why are survivors forced to choose between protecting their mental health and protecting their children?This episode closes with a tribute to Peyton, Evelyn, and Olivia, children whose lives were lost at the hands of those meant to keep them safest.Survivors deserve a world where leaving does not mean losing.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I drove to the courthouse alone with 12 years of documentation hidden in diapers, camera cases, and folded inside clothes."This episode explores what it can take to finally file for an order of protection, the fear, the shame, the hope, and what can happen when the system fails to hold.It walks through the quiet acts of resistance that can keep survivors going, daily exercise, positive self-talk, defending children, and explores how one final calculated act can ultimately open the door to freedom.Most importantly, it walks survivors through practical steps they can take right now, hiding money safely, opening a secret bank account, using cash back at stores, and contacting a shelter advocate without being detected.You don't have to jump. You don't have to run. You just need to begin.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I would watch myself floating above, just detached from my body. I didn't know it had a name."This episode explores what dissociation actually feels like from the inside: the weightlessness, the numbness, the experience of watching your own life unfold from somewhere outside your body.It explains what dissociation is, why it happens, and why over 50% of women experiencing domestic violence will exhibit dissociative symptoms, often without ever knowing it.It also walks through one of the most powerful stories on the podcast: a highway road-rage incident in which a family is trapped in a car with no way out, and explains exactly what happens in the brain when a person feels completely trapped with nowhere to go.If you have ever felt numb, robotic, or like you were watching your own life from the outside, this episode will finally give you a name for what you experienced.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"My children did not steal my time. They made my time priceless."This episode explores what it can feel like to grieve the years stolen by abuse, the endless days, the suffocating tension, the dreams that had to wait, and what it means to finally take that time back.It speaks directly to children of abuse, and to every parent who stayed to protect them, offering a release from the guilt that was never theirs to carry.It also explores how abusers weaponize time itself, using gaslighting and control to make survivors lose track of years, convincing them it is too late to start over.For anyone grieving the years abuse stole, this episode is a reminder that it is not too late. Your time belongs to you again.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"It's been six years. I have a new life. My kids and I are safe. I really thought the fear would have eased by now."This episode explores what life after abuse can actually look like, the triggers that strike without warning, the hypervigilance that never fully quiets, and the shame that lingers long after the relationship ends.It breaks down gaslighting, how abusers use it to make survivors doubt their own reality, and explores why overanalyzing every word and situation becomes a survival habit that is hard to unlearn.It also raises something deeply unfair: that survivors sharing their stories to help others can still live in fear of retaliation. And it asks whether that fear ever truly goes away.If you've ever wondered why the fear doesn't stop after you leave, this episode will help you understand why and remind you that you are not broken. Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I called lawyers for 15 years. I couldn't risk leaving my kids alone with him half the time."This episode explores why leaving an abusive relationship is rarely as simple as walking out the door, and what keeps survivors trapped for years, sometimes decades.It breaks down love bombing, the manipulative tactic abusers use to pull survivors back in, and explains the chilling statistic that 75% of domestic violence homicides happen when a victim tries to leave.It also speaks directly to family and friends, how to support someone without judgment, how abusers use technology to monitor victims, and what safe escape planning actually looks like.If you've ever wondered why someone you love went back, or if you've gone back yourself, this episode will help you understand why, and remind you there is no shame in it.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

"I wish he'd just hit me, because then I would have had proof."This episode explores what years of non-physical abuse can actually look like, the patterns that repeat endlessly, the impossible expectations after every incident, and the invisible control that left no bruises and no proof.It also walks through a powerful checklist of abuse warning signs, from tracking apps and financial control to gaslighting and isolation, and explains why these behaviors are just as serious as physical violence.If you've ever wondered whether what you're experiencing is really abuse, this episode is for you.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

In this first episode of Hang In There, your host introduces herself for the first time - and it wasn't easy.This episode explores what it can feel like to rebuild a life after abuse- and then discover, years later, that the body has been keeping score the whole time. It walks through what delayed onset PTSD can look like, how healing can begin through unexpected outlets like plant therapy, and what inspired this podcast to exist.It also speaks directly to survivors who have gone back to their abuser- and why there is absolutely no shame in that.Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.

Hang In There is a powerful podcast shining a light on the often-overlooked realities of emotional and non-physical abuse. Through honest stories and heartfelt conversations, we raise awareness, break the silence, and build a supportive community for survivors. Whether you're on your own healing journey or want to better understand the hidden impact of abuse, this podcast offers hope, education, and the reminder that no one has to go through it alone. Send us Fan MailThe personal experiences shared in this podcast are the opinions of the individuals sharing them and are not intended to serve as professional advice or constitute accusations about any other person, organization, or group. We encourage you to seek professional support and assistance. The topics discussed in this podcast may be distressing and triggering for some listeners and could impact your mental health. The content of this podcast is intended for educational and awareness purposes only.For more information and resources, please visit hanginthere.net.