Defiance of Silence - A Sacred Witness

Valerie
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Mental Health

Defiance of Silence — A Sacred Witness is a space for human stories. Hosted by Valerie — a U.S. Army veteran, nurse, survivor, and trauma-informed witness — this podcast explores the quiet things people carry and what happens when they finally have a place to tell the truth about them. Through honest conversations with survivors, veterans, caregivers, healthcare workers, healers, advocates, and everyday people, we explore trauma, grief, moral injury, recovery, identity, caregiving, resilience, and the many ways human beings learn to keep going after life changes them. Some stories center on trauma. Others explore healing, service, loss, faith, purpose, or the unseen weight carried by those who witness suffering every day. Here, we don’t rush stories. We don’t fix people. We witness them. This is not therapy. This is not performance. This is a space where truth can land without spectacle. A field of human stories. A place to feel less alone. Take what steadies you. Leave what doesn’t. New episodes every other week.

  1. Breanna - Moral Injury

    1d ago

    Breanna - Moral Injury

    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 explore Military Sexual Trauma (MST) as a betrayal-based trauma and the layers that often accompany it: distrust, isolation, hypervigilance, shame, and a reshaped sense of identity. Breanna breaks down moral injury in a way that is both accessible and profound, offering a distinction that lands deeply: PTSD often says, "I'm not safe." Moral injury often says, "I'm not worthy." Together, we discuss the difference between treating symptoms and tending to the deeper wounds of meaning, values, and belonging. Breanna shares her own experience with suicidal ideation, the courage it took to call 988, and what she now looks for when someone begins to reconnect with themselves: choice, agency, hope, and a nervous system that finally exhales. We also talk about boundaries, self-care for helpers, movement, community, and why presence—not fixing—is often the most powerful medicine we can offer another human being. This is a conversation about healing, but also about witnessing. About telling the truth. About what becomes possible when we no longer carry our stories alone. If this episode resonates with you, consider sharing it with someone who may need it. And if you're enjoying these conversations, subscribing and leaving a review helps these stories reach the people who need them most. Contact Valerie Support the show Remember YOU are loved and worthy of being witnessed! If today’s episode stirred heavy feelings, you are not alone. Please reach out to a trusted friend or a professional if you need support: National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) | rainn.orgSAMHSA Mental Health/Substance Use: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)988 LIFELINE: Call, Text or Chat https://988lifeline.orgVeterans Crisis Line: Dial or text 988, then press 1Help for Veterans suffering with CPTSD https://saveawarrior.org/https://www.scarsfoundation.org/*This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in immediate danger, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Want to tell your story? Send a DM or an email Find us on IG @defiance_of_silence_podcast    valerie@defianceofsilencepodcast.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/defiance_of_silence_podcast?igsh=MWVxMHI3OXY1cm1paA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    1h 22m
  2. Valerie - What Stayed: Season Two Reflections

    Jun 3 ·  Bonus

    Valerie - What Stayed: Season Two Reflections

    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 the versions of ourselves we created just to survive. We examine the helper patterns our culture rewards and what happens when the body finally sends an invoice through insomnia, panic, chronic pain, exhaustion, numbness, or disconnection. Drawing from conversations from this season's guests, Valerie reflects on the power of being believed, why healing rarely happens in isolation, and what it means to stop abandoning ourselves long enough to tell the truth. This episode is also a bridge into Season 3, where the focus widens beyond trauma itself and into the humanity beneath the roles we play—the field of human stories all around us.  Special thank you our special guest from this season - it means so much that you would share your hearts with us and help us grow in love and community. If this space has meant something to you, thank you for being part of it. Thank you for witnessing these stories, and for helping defy the silence that keeps people isolated and alone.  See you in Season 3 - The Field of Human Stories Contact Valerie Support the show Remember YOU are loved and worthy of being witnessed! If today’s episode stirred heavy feelings, you are not alone. Please reach out to a trusted friend or a professional if you need support: National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) | rainn.orgSAMHSA Mental Health/Substance Use: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)988 LIFELINE: Call, Text or Chat https://988lifeline.orgVeterans Crisis Line: Dial or text 988, then press 1Help for Veterans suffering with CPTSD https://saveawarrior.org/https://www.scarsfoundation.org/*This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in immediate danger, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Want to tell your story? Send a DM or an email Find us on IG @defiance_of_silence_podcast    valerie@defianceofsilencepodcast.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/defiance_of_silence_podcast?igsh=MWVxMHI3OXY1cm1paA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    30 min
  3. Kim - When Healers Need Healing

    May 20

    Kim - When Healers Need Healing

    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, years on the front lines of trauma care, and raising a child as a single mother. Like so many who live in constant readiness, she learned how to function, perform, and push through—until her body no longer allowed it. When foot surgery forced her to slow down, everything she had outrun caught up. Memories from the ER. Nightmares. Survival patterns that no longer worked. In this conversation, we talk honestly about what happens when a life built on resilience meets the reality of unresolved trauma. From childhood experiences like divorce and lack of emotional attunement, to the way blame turns inward when we’re trying to make sense of it all—Kim shares what it looked like to move from living in fight-or-flight to something steadier and more sustainable. You’ll hear real, practical tools for nervous system regulation—and what it actually takes to move beyond white-knuckling your way through life. We also go deeper into Kim’s work today. Through the Reveille & Retreat Project, she creates healing retreats where military women can step out of performance and into truth—using nature, movement, and shared storytelling as pathways back to connection. She shares what makes a space truly safe, why the outdoors can support trauma healing, and how community only works when it includes boundaries and the right people. Kim is also the co-founder and host of the Dog Tag Diaries, where women veterans have honest conversations about service, identity, moral injury, grief, and life beyond the uniform. Because the stories we once survived… often become the ones that help others heal. Listen to Dog Tag Diaries here - https://dogtagdiaries.captivate.fm/ Contact Valerie Support the show Remember YOU are loved and worthy of being witnessed! If today’s episode stirred heavy feelings, you are not alone. Please reach out to a trusted friend or a professional if you need support: National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) | rainn.orgSAMHSA Mental Health/Substance Use: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)988 LIFELINE: Call, Text or Chat https://988lifeline.orgVeterans Crisis Line: Dial or text 988, then press 1Help for Veterans suffering with CPTSD https://saveawarrior.org/https://www.scarsfoundation.org/*This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in immediate danger, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Want to tell your story? Send a DM or an email Find us on IG @defiance_of_silence_podcast    valerie@defianceofsilencepodcast.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/defiance_of_silence_podcast?igsh=MWVxMHI3OXY1cm1paA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    1h 12m
  4. Lisa - Not in Crisis Enough

    May 6

    Lisa - Not in Crisis Enough

    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, you’re not in enough crisis, or you just need to fill out one more form… this conversation is for you. Lisa shares the vision behind the Wellness Collaborative, a nonprofit growing out of Peaceful Waters Retreat Center in LaGrange, Texas. Her approach is different: trauma-informed care in a park-like setting that supports the whole person—counseling alongside nervous system regulation, movement, yoga, nutrition, and other holistic modalities. We talk about why place matters in healing, how diagnosis-driven systems can miss the human in front of them, and what it could look like to expand access in rural communities through visiting providers, interns, and volunteers. And we go there, personally. Assault. Iraq. Grief. And the way anger can become the only emotion that feels survivable. Lisa shares what helps over time, what real self-care looks like for those who are always the helper, and tools like Alpha-Stim and VA virtual reality therapy that some people have found helpful for anxiety and sleep. If you’re trying to get help, have been turned away, or are supporting someone who is—this conversation offers perspective, possibility, and a reminder that the system may be broken, but healing is still available. Contact Valerie Support the show Remember YOU are loved and worthy of being witnessed! If today’s episode stirred heavy feelings, you are not alone. Please reach out to a trusted friend or a professional if you need support: National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) | rainn.orgSAMHSA Mental Health/Substance Use: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)988 LIFELINE: Call, Text or Chat https://988lifeline.orgVeterans Crisis Line: Dial or text 988, then press 1Help for Veterans suffering with CPTSD https://saveawarrior.org/https://www.scarsfoundation.org/*This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in immediate danger, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Want to tell your story? Send a DM or an email Find us on IG @defiance_of_silence_podcast    valerie@defianceofsilencepodcast.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/defiance_of_silence_podcast?igsh=MWVxMHI3OXY1cm1paA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    55 min
  5. Traci - The Call No Parent Wants

    Apr 22

    Traci - The Call No Parent Wants

    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 caregiving that few people truly understand. This is not a story about a moment.  It’s about the long after. We talk about what caregiver burnout actually looks like when it’s not reduced to a buzzword: Sleeping in 15-minute fragments, forgetting to eat, living in a constant state of fight-or-flight, and carrying the quiet fear of what happens if you let yourself rest. Traci shares the weight of being asked to sign a DNR, the confusion of navigating medical systems that often misunderstand anoxic brain injury, and the hard-earned skill of becoming an advocate—inside both civilian hospitals and the VA. We also name what often goes unseen: The ripple effect of trauma on others, including the classmates who witnessed Trent’s collapse, CPR, and defibrillation—and were left without closure. And still, hope finds its way in. Through adaptive sports, brain injury clubhouse community, equine connection at Henry’s Home, and the slow, honest rebuilding of identity when “caregiver” becomes your whole world—until it can’t be the only thing anymore. If you’re caring for someone you love—whether you’re just beginning, deep in it, or somewhere you can finally look back—this conversation offers language, validation, and options. One clear truth remains:   You don’t have to do this alone. Ask for help. Let people show up. Contact Valerie Support the show Remember YOU are loved and worthy of being witnessed! If today’s episode stirred heavy feelings, you are not alone. Please reach out to a trusted friend or a professional if you need support: National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) | rainn.orgSAMHSA Mental Health/Substance Use: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)988 LIFELINE: Call, Text or Chat https://988lifeline.orgVeterans Crisis Line: Dial or text 988, then press 1Help for Veterans suffering with CPTSD https://saveawarrior.org/https://www.scarsfoundation.org/*This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in immediate danger, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Want to tell your story? Send a DM or an email Find us on IG @defiance_of_silence_podcast    valerie@defianceofsilencepodcast.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/defiance_of_silence_podcast?igsh=MWVxMHI3OXY1cm1paA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    1h 11m
  6. Melissa - A Sound Bath Sent Me Back In Time

    Apr 8

    Melissa - A Sound Bath Sent Me Back In Time

    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 again. What starts with curiosity about a sound bath becomes something much deeper. Melissa opens up about what shifted when she stopped trying to heal the “right” way and allowed herself to experience something that actually reached her nervous system. She shares the moment she realized childhood trauma was shaping her marriage—feeling the pull to push her husband away while also fearing abandonment. From there, we explore the realities of therapy, barriers to care, and why modalities like EMDR can feel safer when words are hard to access. The conversation expands into sound therapy, somatic release, and what it’s like to revisit memories while still feeling grounded and safe in your body. If you’ve experienced hypervigilance, night terrors, or chronic insomnia, Melissa’s experience with improved sleep may resonate deeply. We also connect the dots between inner child work, mindfulness, parts work, and the daily practice of interrupting old narratives—especially the ones that say “something bad is about to happen.” Melissa shares how prayer supports her healing, how she serves fellow veterans by connecting them to VA mental health resources, and why holistic approaches like Reiki deserve a seat at the table alongside traditional care. There’s laughter in this conversation, too—because healing isn’t only heavy. Sometimes it’s surprising, sometimes it’s uncomfortable, and sometimes it’s exactly what you didn’t expect. If you’re searching for trauma recovery tools that meet you where you are, this conversation offers possibilities without pressure. Take what serves you. Leave what doesn’t.  You don’t have to carry this alone. Contact Valerie Support the show Remember YOU are loved and worthy of being witnessed! If today’s episode stirred heavy feelings, you are not alone. Please reach out to a trusted friend or a professional if you need support: National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) | rainn.orgSAMHSA Mental Health/Substance Use: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)988 LIFELINE: Call, Text or Chat https://988lifeline.orgVeterans Crisis Line: Dial or text 988, then press 1Help for Veterans suffering with CPTSD https://saveawarrior.org/https://www.scarsfoundation.org/*This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in immediate danger, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Want to tell your story? Send a DM or an email Find us on IG @defiance_of_silence_podcast    valerie@defianceofsilencepodcast.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/defiance_of_silence_podcast?igsh=MWVxMHI3OXY1cm1paA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    48 min
  7. Jason - Staying Human Under Pressure: What Trauma Surgery Teaches Us About Leadership, Presence, and Carrying the Weight

    Mar 24

    Jason - Staying Human Under Pressure: What Trauma Surgery Teaches Us About Leadership, Presence, and Carrying the Weight

    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-pressure environments. Jason spends his days putting people back together after life has quite literally broken them apart. But beyond the technical skill required in trauma surgery, he shares something deeper: how presence, breath, and steady leadership shape outcomes just as much as surgical precision. Together, they explore what happens after the case—how to carry what you witness without bringing the full weight home, and how small, intentional practices like writing, prayer, and reaching out to a trusted person can help prevent compassion from turning into numbness. This conversation moves beyond medicine into something more universal: how we lead, how we regulate, and how we care without losing ourselves. You’ll hear practical insights for navigating high-stakes moments:  How to steady yourself when everything feels urgent  Why lowering your voice can calm an entire room  How to step back and reorient when you feel overwhelmed  Ways to process what you carry without isolating Valerie and Jason also speak to the quiet impact of silence—how it isolates both survivors and caregivers—and how being witnessed creates movement where people often feel stuck. There’s humor here too, because levity is part of the medicine. And there’s a reminder woven throughout: recovery—whether physical or emotional—doesn’t follow shortcuts. Scars may remain, but they don’t define us. If you’ve ever carried what you’ve witnessed, questioned yourself under pressure, or wondered how to lead without hardening, this conversation offers something steady to hold onto. Take what serves you. Leave what doesn’t.  You don’t have to carry this alone. Watch Dr. Piefer on his podcast Slice of Piefer!  Click Here - https://youtu.be/xNofebTduYM?si=uCR3bDF-OwGGaAcq Contact Valerie Support the show Remember YOU are loved and worthy of being witnessed! If today’s episode stirred heavy feelings, you are not alone. Please reach out to a trusted friend or a professional if you need support: National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) | rainn.orgSAMHSA Mental Health/Substance Use: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)988 LIFELINE: Call, Text or Chat https://988lifeline.orgVeterans Crisis Line: Dial or text 988, then press 1Help for Veterans suffering with CPTSD https://saveawarrior.org/https://www.scarsfoundation.org/*This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in immediate danger, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Want to tell your story? Send a DM or an email Find us on IG @defiance_of_silence_podcast    valerie@defianceofsilencepodcast.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/defiance_of_silence_podcast?igsh=MWVxMHI3OXY1cm1paA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    1h 4m
  8. Ayana - When Resilience Isn’t Enough: Choosing Transilience

    Mar 11

    Ayana - When Resilience Isn’t Enough: Choosing Transilience

    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 difference between breaking silence that isolates and honoring silence that protects. This isn’t trauma porn and there’s no pressure to share more than your nervous system can hold—just real language, lived experience, and practical tools for safety and healing. Ayana shares how one sentence from a therapist changed the course of her recovery, why anger often masks fear, and why regulation must come before processing trauma. We also unpack what peer support actually means—trained, ethical support grounded in lived experience—and why it can be a lifeline for veterans and families navigating complex systems of care. We talk about choosing therapy wisely—asking about modalities, tracking what actually helps, and remembering you can request a provider who fits your identity and needs. EMDR, Brainspotting, IFS, ART—these aren’t badges of honor. They’re pathways. Readiness is the gate. Along the way we explore the drama triangle, the cost of rescuing others, and the courage it takes to prune relationships that no longer support growth. Ayana introduces the idea of “transilience”—not just surviving what life hands you, but transforming it. If you’re breathing, you qualify for care. For workshops, speaking engagements   https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayanabrown/ I currently see clients at Hope Village Wellness Center.  https://www.hopevillagewellnesscenter.com/ Check out Ayana's book here: Buy Myka and the Mystery of the Treasure Trust A special thanks: This episode is gifted to you by a sacred witness & friend, Tara Pitcock - Thank you for the support, Tara!!! Contact Valerie Support the show Remember YOU are loved and worthy of being witnessed! If today’s episode stirred heavy feelings, you are not alone. Please reach out to a trusted friend or a professional if you need support: National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) | rainn.orgSAMHSA Mental Health/Substance Use: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)988 LIFELINE: Call, Text or Chat https://988lifeline.orgVeterans Crisis Line: Dial or text 988, then press 1Help for Veterans suffering with CPTSD https://saveawarrior.org/https://www.scarsfoundation.org/*This podcast is not therapy. If you’re in immediate danger, please call 911 or your local emergency number. Want to tell your story? Send a DM or an email Find us on IG @defiance_of_silence_podcast    valerie@defianceofsilencepodcast.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/defiance_of_silence_podcast?igsh=MWVxMHI3OXY1cm1paA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

    1h 5m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Defiance of Silence — A Sacred Witness is a space for human stories. Hosted by Valerie — a U.S. Army veteran, nurse, survivor, and trauma-informed witness — this podcast explores the quiet things people carry and what happens when they finally have a place to tell the truth about them. Through honest conversations with survivors, veterans, caregivers, healthcare workers, healers, advocates, and everyday people, we explore trauma, grief, moral injury, recovery, identity, caregiving, resilience, and the many ways human beings learn to keep going after life changes them. Some stories center on trauma. Others explore healing, service, loss, faith, purpose, or the unseen weight carried by those who witness suffering every day. Here, we don’t rush stories. We don’t fix people. We witness them. This is not therapy. This is not performance. This is a space where truth can land without spectacle. A field of human stories. A place to feel less alone. Take what steadies you. Leave what doesn’t. New episodes every other week.

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