Trauma Candy Salad

This week on Trauma Candy Salad, we’re serving Sour Patch Kids, Reese’s Cups, and Life Saver Gummies alongside three wildly different but deeply impactful trauma stories. Broken Leg Babe takes us back to church camp talent night in her “main character” era — where a Bluetooth malfunction, an ill-timed key change, and one dramatic step backward led to a broken leg and a legendary fall from grace. Z...

In this episode of Trauma Candy Salad, Sammi, Ashley, and Kyle read three listener-submitted trauma stories that center around betrayal, domestic violence, grief, and the long-lasting impact of sudden loss. Ashley reads a story from “Bitter,” who uprooted her life and moved from Iowa to California for a long-distance boyfriend — only to discover infidelity, humiliation, and an STI waiting for her...

In this episode of Trauma Candy Salad, we sit with the kind of trauma that doesn’t always have a single moment — the kind that builds quietly through parenting, grief, and absence. Kyle shares a submission from a single mother raising an autistic son through years of unpredictability, fear, shame, relief, and eventual healing. Ashley reads a story from a mom unpacking emotional neglect, absent par...

Eating disorders, childhood trauma, addiction, and religious abuse — this episode of Trauma Candy Salad shares three deeply personal stories about the lasting impact of trauma and the work it takes to survive it. Beth opens the episode by sharing her experience with a severe eating disorder that began in adolescence and nearly cost her life, leading to congestive heart failure and long-term health...

This week on Trauma Candy Salad, it’s just Ashley and Kyle holding down the fort while Sammi rests her voice and cheers us on in spirit. We’re reading trauma stories that were originally shared in our TikTok comments—dropped casually, sometimes without warning, and carrying far more weight than a comment box can hold. These stories include childhood abuse and neglect, parental betrayal, medical di...

This episode of Trauma Candy Salad covers trauma related to childhood injury, suicide, and stalking. We share three stories: a man who lost his arm in a farm auger accident as a child, a woman who witnessed her aunt die by suicide on her birthday, and a workplace harassment and stalking case that escalated into swatting, restraining orders, and ongoing fear. Themes include traumatic injury, amputa...

This episode of Trauma Candy Salad explores heartbreak, divorce, illness, and loss when love ends without warning. We share three trauma stories: a marriage ending after a husband comes out as gay, a woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer and BRCA who is served divorce papers during chemo, and a relationship that ends through sudden ghosting with no closure. Themes include divorce, cancer, betrayal,...

In this episode of Trauma Candy Salad, we’re talking about what happens when doctors don’t listen — and the damage that follows. Bad Back Becky brings Gum Drops and shares the agony of recurrent kidney stones, years of unmanaged pain, and being treated like a burden instead of a patient. Lindsey adds Tootsie Rolls to the bowl while recounting how obvious Lyme disease symptoms were dismissed as anx...

In this episode of Trauma Candy Salad, we take our first trip outside the studio to The Glitter Factory to sit down with sisters Britney and Madison for a deeply honest conversation about growing up as parentified glass children. When their baby brother was diagnosed with a very rare childhood cancer, Britney and Madison were still kids themselves—yet suddenly expected to be strong, self-sufficien...

This week on Trauma Candy Salad, we sit with Madysen — a mother whose story is almost unbelievable in its depth, grief, and resilience. Outside of becoming part of the 80% of women who miscarry their first baby, Madysen has lived through more loss than most mothers ever will. Madysen walks us through: • Three pregnancy losses • A first baby whose severe ear infections regressed her speech and left...

In Part 2 of Abbey’s story, we continue through the final years of her marriage — the escalation of physical abuse, the unrelenting emotional and mental manipulation, and the ways her ex-husband used financial control and parental alienation to keep her trapped. Abbey shares the moment she knew she had to leave, the dangerous reality of planning an exit from a violent partner, and the complicated...

For over 20 years, Abbey survived what most people can’t imagine: a marriage defined by physical abuse, emotional trauma, mental manipulation, financial control, and the devastating pain of being cut off from her children. Across this two-part series, Abbey tells the story of how abuse slowly becomes your normal, how isolation becomes a weapon, and what it really takes to leave a partner who has c...

At 19, Ivy thought she’d found safety in an older man who showed up for her when she was hurting. Instead, she walked straight into the perfect storm of grooming, love bombing, emotional control, and drug-fueled dependence. In this episode, Sammi, Ashley, and Ivy sit down for a raw and vulnerable conversation about: • The love bombing that hooked her in • The 17-year age gap and how it created con...

This week’s Trauma Candy Salad is a mix of heartbreak, healing, and a little Gorilla Glue. 🍬 Sammi shares Ginny’s story — a daughter raised by a teen mom who sacrificed everything, only to lose her too soon. Ashley reads a gut-wrenching account from Tomorrow Girl, who escaped an abusive relationship and found her way back to herself. And Kyle rounds it out with Gorilla Glue’s chaotic tale of chil...

This week on Trauma Candy Salad, Sammi, Ashley, and Kyle serve up a full three-course meal of chaos — featuring gaslighting boyfriends, fake best friends, and workplace Chads who just won’t quit. 🍬 On the menu: • A “good guy” boyfriend caught on Grindr (and a group chat cleanup that deserves an award) • A best friend who turned out to be a full-blown frenemy • And one woman’s “Roman Empire” — wat...

This week on Trauma Candy Salad, Sammi, Ashley, and Kyle unpack three powerful listener stories that will hit you right in the gut — and maybe even make you laugh through the tears. 🍑 Story 1: A wife discovers the man she married becomes unrecognizable after kids — controlling her finances, her freedom, and nearly breaking her spirit. 🍬 Story 2: A son relives the devastating year his mother went...

We’re finally back with a brand new episode of The Aftertaste! In this bonus episode of Trauma Candy Salad, hosts Sammi, Ashley, and Rachel catch up on two unforgettable listener stories — and things get delightfully off the rails. From emotional story updates to total sibling chaos, this episode has everything: laughter, closure, and way too many tangents. Whether you’re here for the follow-ups o...

In today’s episode of Trauma Candy Salad, we’re unpacking three powerful stories of family rejection, abandonment, and the unexpected places love can be found. 🍬 Pink Starbursts: A boy comes out to his mother, only to be met with cruelty and violence. What begins as abuse ends in an unexpected and shocking twist of fate. 🍫 Chocolate Covered Almonds: A child abandoned by their father grapples wit...

This week, things are different. No listener submissions—just us, sitting down with our very first guest, Rachel. If you’ve listened to Trauma Candy Salad, you’ve heard her name before. Ashley and I used to work with Rachel, but we never knew the full story she carried: a lifelong battle with depression that began in childhood and followed her into adulthood. Rachel opens up about navigating life...

Today’s episode of Trauma Candy Salad is a wild ride through the spectrum of “are you kidding me?” moments — from career heartbreaks to shocking betrayals, and one story that’s straight out of a soap opera. 💼 First up, “Open To Work” shares her story of pouring her heart into not one but two dream jobs — only to be laid off from both. 🧠 Then, an anonymous listener opens up about the gut-wrenchin...

Today’s Trauma Candy Salad dives into the complicated, painful, and unforgettable ways fathers shape our lives—for better and for worse. From a dad who gambled away his daughter’s future, to a Navy childhood shattered by unthinkable violence, to the haunting memory of losing a father to suicide, this episode explores the lasting scars left behind. As always, we mix in a little sweetness with the c...

In this episode of Trauma Candy Salad, Sammi, Ashley, and Kyle share stories that highlight what it means to witness trauma and carry its impact into adulthood. • Brennon (🍫 Hershey’s with Almonds) recounts the years he watched his father abuse his mother, the complicated grief of losing her to illness, and the lifelong perspective that experience left behind. • Turtle Girl (🍭 DumDums) takes us...

This week on Trauma Candy Salad, we’re diving into stories of love that endured, love that vanished, and love that still lingers long after loss. Jim shares his moving story of caring for his wife through Huntington’s disease until her final breath. Helen opens up about the heartbreak of being ghosted by the man she thought she’d marry. And Grandma June tells us about the sudden loss of her husban...

This week on Trauma Candy Salad, the stories cut deep. Jumpy shares how her sister dismissed her pain after years of abuse, Gabe opens up about losing his best friend to the same partner who broke him down, and Jamberry reflects on a childhood scarred by betrayal and silence. Together, we unpack what it means to be hurt by the very people we thought would protect us—and how those wounds echo long...

In this week’s Trauma Candy Salad, we’re joined by stories that travel across borders and back into childhood bedrooms. Omari shares the bittersweet push and pull of leaving Guinea for freedom in Europe, only to find himself battling loneliness, language barriers, and the ache of being “different.” Halo opens up about the lasting imprint of growing up in a chaotic home, where silence feels like da...