Dear Katie: Survivor Stories

All the way from Finland, Eva Biaudet talks about her role as a politician through working through battling the negative impact of human trafficking. She emphasizes how important sex education is through child development, diving into how enforcing equal satisfaction and engagement through romantic relationships at a young age is an important part of creating healthy and safe sexual environments. 

Host: Katie Koestner

Editor: Evan ...

This week, we get to know Dr. Shena Young, a psychologist healer and mental health futurist in LA. We listen as she talks about her life role to hold space for Black individuals healing from trauma, and she puts into perspective how important it is to understand the mind, body, and spirit.

For more information on Shena and her work, visit www.embodiedtruthhealing.com

Hosts: Claire Kaplan and Katie Koestner

Editor: Benter Oluoch

Pro...

In today's episode, Zahabiyah Yamasaki, founder of “Transcending Sexual Trauma Through Yoga”, gives us a glimpse of her work with trauma survivors. Due to her college stranger rape at the University of California - Irvine, Zahabiyah has dedicated herself to helping others who have also experienced trauma explore their mind body connection, feeling safe in their body, and healing. In her work, she emphasizes the importance of commun...

Meeting by chance on a plane, Katie interviews Brandy Jeffries, a stand-up comedian and actor who also works in a security prison on death row. Brandy talks about the importance of the delivery of her jokes and her calculated approach to death row prisoners, which, despite being very different job descriptions, have very similar race and gender judgments. Ultimately, through Katie’s experience with sexual assault, and Brandy’s expe...

After losing her brother, her first perpetrator, Juliette tells the story of her family violence and five-man assault while studying abroad in Spain. Spending nine months in the hospital left her in physical trauma, shock, and with body image issues. Through her healing work, she becomes engaged in mind-body connections and uses her expertise to establish boundaries and communication with others. Within her journey to recovery, Jul...

This week, we discuss the connection between animal abuse and domestic violence with Phil Arkow, President & Secretary of the National Link Coalition. An internationally acclaimed lecturer, author, and educator, he is a consultant for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and chairs the Latham Foundation’s Animal Abuse and Family Violence Prevention Project. He trains internationally on interdisciplinary...

"I remember the feeling of being undressed before being undressed."

A recovering people pleaser, Maeve ignores the red flags and her gut when she meets her Tinder date. She tries to be kind, fighting feelings of guilt as she lets him into her room. As he continues to push her boundaries, she calls for her roommate, but her roommate gets back too late. At first in shock, Maeve shares her journey from self-harm, through self-respect ...

A lawyer focusing on institutional accountability for child sexual assault, Hansen Dirani shares his soul-shaking passion and energy with us to advocate for survivors of violence. His beliefs, while unconventional, reveal a deep care and unwavering strength in the face of a culture of complicity and silence.

If you or a person you know needs an advocate, please make use of our free legal hotline, 567-SHATTER (567-742-8837), or visi...

In this bonus segment, we introduce two new cohosts taking on our interviews! 

Emily Wang is the Senior Producer for the Dear Katie Podcast and is currently a graduate student in cell biology. She has an academic interest in sexual violence prevention and started the Dear Katie Podcast alongside Claire Kaplan and Katie Koestner. 

Luiza Leite is the Associate Producer for the Dear Katie Podcast and is currently biological sciences a...

New college student Kiley does her best to deal with the Covid outbreak on campus, spending time with her boyfriend and his roommates. In love for the first time, she finds herself in uncomfortable situations with this group, until one of his roommates attacks her. She walks away, in shock, living in silence until months later. Kiley shares her journey from breaking her silence and dealing with the backlash to self-care and helping...

Author and ally Michael Emberger shares his voice and knowledge, advocating for men to take charge and act as true supporters for survivors of sexual assault. His book, Believed, focuses on the suffering of mermaid and college student Kelsea, who stands on a tail and two fins to fight the most painful trial of her life. Despite her trauma and a crisis of faith, she speaks the truth of what her rapist did, but will she be believed?

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In today's episode, filmmaker and actress Emma Fitzpatrick discusses the the importance of telling stories that give a voice to the voiceless. As a writer, she has contributed to the success of multiple social media campaigns highlighting women’s issues and gender equality including #SHEPLAYSWEWIN which garnered media attention for its positive portrayal and message to young women in athletics. She most recently wrote and produced ...

Deb Grassman and Jo Jones share their vision of a world free of sexual violence and a path to healing from 'soul injury'. Often, trauma separates us from ourselves, and the process of healing reconnects us with the self, 're-membering'. 

Deborah Grassman is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and author of two books, Peace at Last and The Hero Within. . She discovered a phenomenon that has become identified as “Soul Injury” – a wound ...