Irene Cares

Ashley Larsen is both a registered dietitian and a personal trainer — a rare combination that gives her a uniquely balanced perspective on health. In this episode, she breaks down why she'd choose exercise over nutrition if she could only give someone one tool for better health, and how starting with movement naturally leads to better food choices instead of the other way around. Ashley unpac...

What do a Doomsday cult, rat poison, and a .357 revolver have in common? They're all part of one man's survival story — and none of them won. Raven is a lifelong musician, martial artist, and author who grew up in a cult, survived abuse at the hands of his stepfather, and spent years inviting death onto his own stage before driving to the woods one night with a loaded gun and one unanswe...

On the Irene Cares Podcast, Carrie Crane shares how early trauma, an emotionally unavailable and abusive home, and becoming a mother at 15 shaped lifelong patterns of seeking love, people-pleasing, and survival mode. She describes placing her second baby for adoption at 17, pursuing nursing to prove a principal wrong, and later recognizing destructive relationship cycles, including severe abuse an...

Veteran Tim Leavitt describes joining the Army National Guard at 17 while in foster care, deploying to Iraq at 18 as artillery, leaving in 2008, then reenlisting in 2009 as a combat engineer and completing two Afghanistan route-clearance deployments. He recounts the realities of combat versus movies, including difficulty seeing shooters, and details a Kunar Province 360 ambush where radio intercep...

Have you ever wondered why certain sounds, situations, or words send you spiraling — even when you're completely safe? You're not broken. You may be carrying invisible wounds. In this episode, Hope and De'dy open an honest, compassionate conversation about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder — what it actually is, what it isn't, and why so many people are living with it without ever...

Are you tired of saying yes when you mean no? Do you struggle to speak up for yourself without feeling guilty or afraid of conflict? In this episode, we're diving deep into the transformative skill of assertive communication — and how mastering it can change every area of your life. In this episode, you'll learn: ✅ The difference between assertiveness, aggression, and passivity — and wh...

In today’s episode of Irene Cares, Hope and De’dy dive into the real-life stories and growing conversations that are reshaping laws, protection systems, and public awareness around emotional harm, coercive behavior, technology monitoring, survivor safety, and accountability. We discuss: ✨ Why emotional and psychological patterns are finally being recognized ✨ The growing conversations around coe...

Have you ever experienced a moment where everything suddenly made sense? In this episode of the Irene Cares Podcast, we explore the powerful “aha!” moments that can completely change the direction of someone’s healing journey. Those moments of clarity when patterns become visible, confusion turns into understanding, and you begin to see your worth more clearly than ever before. We discuss how gain...

In today’s episode of the Irene Cares Podcast, we discuss practical steps for protecting your physical, emotional, and mental well-being during difficult or high-conflict situations. We talk about creating personalized safety plans, setting healthy boundaries, trusting your intuition, preparing emergency contacts and go-bags, and seeking professional support when needed. Whether someone is navigat...

Your emotions are valid — but they don't have to run your life.  This episode walks you through how to identify and navigate the intense feelings that come with abuse and recovery.  We cover healthy coping mechanisms, the important difference between emotions and facts, the grief that comes with loss, and when professional help is the strongest step you can take.  You are not controlled by yo...

Have you ever felt emotionally exhausted, disconnected in relationships, or stuck in survival mode without understanding why? In this episode of the Irene Cares Podcast, we sit down with wellness coach, speaker, and systemic wellness expert Thurmon Thomas for a powerful conversation about emotional resilience, ADHD in relationships, mental wellness, and the connection between mind, body, and human...

Unlock your potential and transform your life with "The Language of Empowerment & The Science of Changing Your Thoughts." Discover how conscious communication and understanding neuroplasticity can rewire your brain for resilience, confidence, and lasting growth. Learn practical strategies to master self-talk, set powerful boundaries, and create a narrative of healing. Perfect for any...

Today on the Irene Cares Podcast, we’re talking about The Power of Your Voice setting healthy boundaries, communicating clearly, and learning how to confidently express your needs. Many people struggle with saying no, speaking up, or setting limits without feeling guilt or fear. In this episode, we explore practical tools to help you communicate in a calm, respectful, and confident way while prote...

Understanding the Impact — Trauma and Your Body. Trauma affects more than emotions. It can change the way your brain responds, how your nervous system reacts, and how your body processes stress. In this episode, we explore the real physiological and psychological effects of trauma, especially after DV and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). We discuss: • Fight, Flight, Freeze & Fawn response...

On today’s live episode of Irene Cares, we sit down with Kenlee Burt as she shares her deeply personal journey through anxiety, depression, isolation, and the path toward healing. Kenlee opens up about how life changed during her high school years, how losing connection during the pandemic affected her mental health, and how a difficult season eventually led her toward support, perspective, and ho...

Welcome to Irene Cares – your daily source for stories of resilience, healing, and empowerment. At IreneGPT.ai, we believe in supporting survivors on their journey to a healthier way of living. Today we are dedicated to exploring how documentation can be a powerful tool, far beyond just legal needs. We delve into how tracking patterns, gaining personal clarity, and validating your experiences can...

Meet Lexie Allred, a Utah-born, California-raised free spirit who centers her life around family.  Beyond her entrepreneurial ventures, which include a cleaning company and a task management business, Lexie brings a powerful personal story to her work.  Having navigated her own journey of recovery from drug addiction, she is now a passionate advocate for women in domestic violence situations, acti...

AI for Good: How IreneGPT Supports Healing, Clear Communication, and Validation After Abuse... Hope and De'dy, co-founders of Irene Cares, discuss why they consider their tool “AI for good” amid skepticism about AI. They explain that IreneGPT is built with guardrails to prevent manipulation and to keep responses calm, clear, and truth-based, helping users communicate briefly and factually usi...

Podcast Q&A: In this Irene Cares podcast Q&A, Hope & De'dy trade personal questions to help listeners get to know them. They share what brightens their day (babies), childhood freedom spent outdoors, and how nature helps them reset (beach for one, mountains and alone time for the other). They discuss irrational fears like falling from heights, drowning, and bees, including stories...

The Origin of Irene GPT and the Growing Irene Cares Community On the Irene Cares podcast, Hope interviews her business partner and close friend De'dy about the origin and evolution of IreneGPT. De'dy shares how personal struggles with poor communication, boundary-setting, and needing support led her to explore using ChatGPT for healthier, non-manipulative responses, then discuss the conc...

In this deeply emotional episode of the Irene Podcast, Shellene Hawkins shares her powerful story of resilience, survival, and transformation. From experiencing childhood sexual abuse to navigating infertility, betrayal, and a high-conflict, toxic marriage, Shellene opens up about what it truly feels like to be caught in a cycle you cannot easily escape. Why is it so hard to leave a narcissistic o...

Lindy’s Story: Surviving Abuse, Reclaiming Safety, and Building Riptide Helix On the Irene Podcast, Hope interviews her friend Lindy, a mom of five, survivor of childhood abuse, and founder of Riptide Helix. Lindy describes an unstable childhood marked by homelessness, food scarcity, religious trauma, and a father who was physically, verbally, sexually, and spiritually abusive, with pressure to ma...

Unfamiliar Isn’t Unsafe: Healing the Nervous System After Trauma. On the Irene Podcast, therapist Jennie Pool returns to discuss healing and nervous system safety, emphasizing that “unfamiliar is not the same as unsafe” and that change requires building nervous-system capacity to tolerate the unfamiliar rather than relying on willpower. They explore how people may loop back to harmful patterns bec...

Natalie Tallakson: Leaving Abuse, Rebuilding Life, and Trusting Your Intuition. On the Irene Podcast, Natalie Tallakson shares how she left a 19-year abusive relationship in 2018 after realizing the harm was affecting her children, then packed a small U-Haul and drove from southwest Georgia to her family in Southern Utah, where she was met with support. She discusses how fear, shame, trauma bondin...

How Domestic Violence Affects Children: Resilience, Cycles of Violence, and Empowerment On the Irene Podcast, licensed clinical social worker and certified Utah DV provider Kenzie Bradshaw Betancur discusses domestic violence as an ongoing “atmosphere” that affects families and children, drawing on her experience at a Children’s Justice Center and her current work with both survivors and people wh...