Defiance of Silence - A Sacred Witness

A mother is murdered. Her son faces the man responsible in court and believes that chapter is over. Then, more than a decade later, he does something almost no one expects: he writes to the man who killed her. Jaden Emerson shares a story shaped by childhood instability, his mother’s struggles with anxiety and addiction, and the complicated love that remained between them. At twenty-six, just as h...

A father can memorize medication schedules, spot a respiratory decline before a monitor catches it, and still face the moment when love and skill cannot stop loss. Valerie sits down with Jason Tuttle, a stay-at-home dad who spent 15 years as a primary medical caregiver to his son Zachary. Zachary lived with complex medical needs and died suddenly at 15 from complications later listed as sepsis and...

You may have heard the term forensic nurse on TV and assumed it's all about swabs, paperwork, and courtrooms. The truth is quieter—and far more human. In this special panel episode, Val is joined by Dr. Nancy Downing, forensic nurse researcher, educator, and faculty member at the University of North Texas; Stacey Henley, a pediatric forensic nurse with more than a decade of experience caring...

When Candice Reyes first sensed God calling her to create a place where survivors could heal, she had no idea where that path would lead. As she walked through her own healing journey—combining trauma-informed counseling with a deepening relationship with God—she discovered that restoration wasn't just possible for her; it was something she was called to help others experience as well. In thi...

A barn isn’t a studio, and that’s the point. This episode of Defiance of Silence was recorded in the middle of Operation Equine’s WARRIOR Pack Trip in the Colorado mountains—with wind in the rafters, horses nearby, and life moving around us. Valerie joins five other women for an immersive week of horses, horsemanship, nature, shared meals, hard work, laughter, and opportunities to look honestly at...

When faith has been tied to fear, performance, or control, even the word “God” can hit your nervous system like a threat. In this deeply personal episode, I sit down with therapist and former church leader Brenda Cochran for a grounded, honest conversation about church hurt, spiritual abuse, and religious trauma—and why so many people feel anxious, ashamed, or like they’re never enough while tryin...

At 41, Tennille went from setting up surgical trays for breast cancer reconstruction to sitting on the other side of the operating table with a diagnosis of her own. After twenty-five years as a surgical technologist, she recognized the warning signs before anyone had to tell her. What followed was a whirlwind of scans, bloodwork, chemotherapy, radiation, multiple surgeries, and the long road of l...

Healing gets strange when the chaos finally stops and you start missing it. That’s where Valerie and Suzette go in this conversation, tracing recovery beyond “not drinking” and into the deeper work of emotional sobriety, shame, and the patterns that keep us braced for impact even when life is calm. Suzette is a U.S. Army Veteran, transformational leader, and Director of Development at Save A Warri...

The hardest part of trauma is not always what happened. Sometimes it's what it taught you to believe about yourself. In this episode, Valerie sits down with Breanna —a Navy veteran, suicide prevention specialist, and moral injury specialist with Volunteers of America—for a conversation about the wounds too many veterans carry in silence and the paths that can lead them home to themselves. We...

In this solo reflection, Valerie looks back on the conversations that shaped Season 2 and the themes that kept surfacing beneath the stories: grief, survival, caregiving, moral injury, nervous system healing, and the quiet weight so many people carry while appearing strong on the outside. Together, we explore the losses we were taught to outrun—safety, identity, relationships, expectations, and th...

People trained to save everyone else rarely get asked a simple question: Where do you put your own pain? In this season finale, Valerie sits down with Kim —known to many as Captain Kim—a U.S. Army Veteran, former combat medic and emergency room nurse, and founder of the Reveille & Retreat Project. Kim’s path to leadership wasn’t linear. It was shaped by childhood adversity, military service, y...

Four months for an appointment can feel like a door slamming the moment you finally admit you need help. In this episode, we sit down with Lisa—a licensed clinical social worker, Army veteran, and trauma survivor—to talk about what breaks in the mental health system, and what it could look like if care actually met people where they are. If you’ve ever been told you don’t have the right insurance,...

The phone rings at 6:30am. You don’t recognize the number. Minutes later, everything changes. In this episode Traci takes us inside the day her 19-year-old son Trent suffered sudden cardiac arrest during a Navy fitness assessment—and the decade that followed. What began as shock became a long, unrelenting journey through ICU decisions, anoxic brain injury rehabilitation, and the invisible labor of...

What if healing doesn’t come the way you expected—but reaches you anyway? In this episode, Valerie sits down with Melissa —a Navy veteran, mother of three, and a fierce advocate with a servant’s heart—for a conversation that is as honest as it is human. Melissa brings humor, warmth, and just the right amount of spice as she shares her journey through trauma, healing, and learning to trust her body...

Defiance of Silence is a place for real stories of trauma and healing - where lived experience matters more than advice.  What holds a team steady when the stakes rise and the room goes quiet? In this episode, Valerie sits down with Dr. Jason Piefer—orthopedic trauma surgeon, OR leader, and host of Slice of Piefer —for a grounded and honest conversation about what it takes to stay human in high-pr...

Defiance of Silence is a place for real stories of trauma and healing—where lived experience matters more than advice. Start with a breath. Then meet Ayana—a Navy veteran, therapist, author, caregiver, and peer support leader whose story moves from Brooklyn to the nuclear pipeline, through MST and grief, and into a life devoted to witnessing others with care. In this conversation, we explore the d...

What happens when the story you’ve carried for years— I should have known, I should have stopped it —meets the truth your body has been holding all along? In this episode, Valerie sits with Lauren—a mother, veteran, and grassroots community advocate committed to building authentic connection and resilient communities. Lauren served two tours in Iraq as a logistician, later worked as an IT project...

Ready for a gentler way to face hard memories without getting stuck retelling the same story? In this episode of Defiance of Silence , we sit down with Victoria Garcia, a warm, down-to-earth therapist with over ten years in the mental health field, trained in EMDR and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Passionate about helping people untangle the past and build lives that truly work for them, Victoria...

Silence can protect us for a while—but eventually, it costs everything. In this powerful episode, Valerie sits down with Nicole, a decorated veteran, detective, and survivor whose 26-year career in law enforcement and the military was defined by service, strength, and relentless achievement. Rising to the role of Special Agent in Charge and Sergeant in the MA Army National Guard, Nicole Ferry also...

What if grief isn’t only about death, but about every quiet loss we were taught to outrun? We open Season Two with a grounded, powerful conversation with Brad Gallup — veteran, transformational coach, and equine-guided educator. Together, we explore unmourned grief, moral injury, and the hidden cost of caring in a world that both hurts and heals. Brad shares his journey from Desert Storm to a near...

What if the most healing thing we can offer isn’t advice, but presence? We close our first season by honoring the stories that found a home here and the witnesses who listened with care. From sexual trauma to the quiet, everyday work of surviving, this conversation threads together what we learned, what surprised us, and why the body keeps holding truth long after the recording stops. We revisit t...

Start with a breath, stay for the truth. Valerie sits down with Lauren, a licensed professional counselor and former child life specialist, to unpack what it really means to be a sacred witness—how to show up for survivors without losing yourself to vicarious trauma. From emergency rooms and SANE exams to therapy rooms and courtrooms, we trace how the body stores stress, why memories fragment unde...

Some stories crack the shell and let the light in. Valerie sits with Becca—a tattoo artist, mom, and survivor—who turns the old script of silence on its head and shows how radical self-forgiveness can rebuild a life. We move through early violations and the ache of not being believed, into the adult patterns that followed: people pleasing, numbing with alcohol, and mistaking compliance for consent...

What does it take to love someone through trauma without losing yourself? We sit down with Rachel—forensic nurse, educator, and secondary survivor—to unpack the messy, courageous work of building safety, voice, and trust when PTSD lives in the home. From a brave early disclosure on a blind date to a life-saving inpatient stay and a parking-lot pregnancy reveal, her story is equal parts raw and dee...

Silence can isolate — but it can also safeguard a story until it’s ready to be spoken. In this episode, we sit with Jeanine McNeill, CPS —an Army Veteran, Women Veterans Program Certified Peer Specialist, and Women’s Health Liaison at the Sheridan VA. With more than 40 years of lived experience, Jeanine has transformed her own journey through Military Sexual Trauma (MST) and Intimate Partner Viole...