Content warning: This episode contains my personal account of domestic violence, coercive control, narcissistic abuse, suicidal ideation, self-harm, and eating disorders. Please take care when listening, or skip this episode if it feels triggering.

What if the story you were most afraid to tell out loud was the one that could save someone else's life?

In today's solo episode, I'm doing something I've never done before on this podcast – reading my own published chapter from the bestselling anthology EmpowerHer Legacy from She Rises Publishing aloud, in full, for you.

This is my domestic violence story. Not a summary of it. Not the highlights reel. The whole thing.

My childhood, the 20 years of abusive relationships, the love bombing, the coercive control, the eating disorder, the moment I stood in a kitchen and stared at the knife block, the day I left, the emergency housing, the forty-page police statement, and the slow, non-linear, lifelong journey of healing that followed.

I'm sharing this because I wanted to go first. Because if I'm going to ask women to be vulnerable enough to put their stories in our anthology, the least I can do is show you what that looks like.

In this episode, I share:

• Growing up in a home where women were taught to be silent, invisible, and obedient, and how that became the blueprint for every relationship I had
• 20 years of abusive relationships – different faces, different cities, the same story in a new costume
• The danger of love bombing and how abuse recruits your existing wounds rather than creating new ones
• The moment in the kitchen that changed everything, and why the real turning point and the actual leaving are almost never the same event
• What happened after I left – emergency housing, a 40-page police statement, 9 moves in 10 months, losing my business, and missing him
• What I would say to the version of myself still living inside fear
• Why storytelling saved my life, and why I believe it can save others too

This episode is for every woman who has ever been told her story is too much, too messy, or too shameful to share. It is not.

Your story is not something to survive privately. It is something to use. And when you tell the truth about what happened to you – what it took to get out, what it took to rebuild – another woman somewhere hears her own life more clearly.

Stories save lives. Storytelling saved mine.

If you need urgent support, reach out to one of these incredible services:

1800RESPECT – National sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service

Phone: 1800 737 732 (24/7)

Text: 0458 737 732

Website: https://www.1800respect.org.au

Safe Steps – Family violence response centre (Victoria)

Phone: 1800 015 188 (24/7)

Website: https://safesteps.org.au

Lifeline – Crisis support and suicide prevention

Phone: 13 11 14 (24/7)

Text: 0477 13 11 14

Website: https://www.lifeline.org.au

Beyond Blue – Mental health support for anxiety and depression

Phone: 1300 22 4636 (24/7)

Website: https://www.beyondblue.org.au

Apply to be an author in our Life After I Left Anthology

• https://forms.gle/XKMtPoukCfVKnbqF9

Connect with Cat:

• Join my mailing list to be the first to know about my NEW fear program: ⁠https://catlouisedunn.myflodesk.com/mailing-list⁠
• Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/lifeafterileftpodcast/⁠
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catlouisedunn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/catlouisedunn
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catlouisedunn
• Website: https://catlouisedunn.com
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-after-i-left/id1815891092
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@catlouisedunn

Buy the bestselling EmpowerHer Legacy book and ebook

• Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0H4JBKJ9Q
• United Kingdom: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0H4JBKJ9Q
• USA: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H4JBKJ9Q

❤️ Remember: Don't be silent. Be unstoppable.