At 12 years old, Lawrence Harris was trying to survive childhood abuse, protect his siblings, navigate autism, and live with a nervous system that never felt safe.

By 15, he had another realization: what happened to him was not his fault, but he could not keep using his pain as an excuse to hurt the people who loved him.

In this episode of Raw Minds, Lawrence opens up about childhood abuse, autism, complex PTSD, hypervigilance, loneliness, low self-worth, therapy, accountability, forgiveness, relationships, codependency, and what it took to stop blaming his past and start changing his future.

Lawrence explains how trauma can rewire the way you see people, why abuse from a parent can destroy trust, what complex PTSD felt like in everyday life, and how cognitive behavioral therapy, journaling, exercise, hobbies, fishing, and self-awareness helped him learn how to feel safe again.

He also talks about becoming a content creator, author, speaker and coach for teens and young adults. At 18, he began publishing books, including Power to the People, and today he shares the lessons he learned through Lawrence C Empowers.

One of the strongest lessons in this conversation is simple: trauma may explain your behavior, but it does not give you permission to keep hurting people.

This is a conversation about breaking generational patterns, taking responsibility without blaming yourself for what happened, forgiving without forgetting, and becoming someone your younger self would be proud of.

LAWRENCE HARRIS

Website / Books / Coaching:

https://lawrencecharris.com

YouTube, TikTok & Instagram:

Lawrence C Empowers

Business / Speaking:

Lawrence@LawrenceCharris.com

CHAPTERS

00:00 Childhood Abuse, Autism & Survival

02:14 Welcome to Lawrence Harris

02:41 Where to Find Lawrence

04:33 Who Lawrence Was at 12

06:25 When a Parent Becomes the Source of Fear

08:20 What Survival Mode Looked Like

10:10 When He Realized It Was Abuse

13:18 The Turning Point

14:40 Taking Pain Out on People Who Loved Him

15:05 The Mirror Moment at 15

16:46 Trauma Explains It — It Doesn’t Excuse It

17:43 Men, Emotions & Generational Trauma

19:58 Changing the Ingredients Changes the Life

20:59 Be a Buffalo

21:39 Learning Gratitude for the Past

24:02 Finding the Lesson in Pain

24:36 What Complex PTSD Feels Like

26:32 Learning How to Feel Safe Again

28:14 Speaking to Youth About Mental Health

29:34 Vulnerability Without Trauma Dumping

30:12 From YouTube to Books and Coaching

31:54 Simple Tools That Actually Help

33:42 Why Coloring Helped Erick

33:56 Fishing, Presence & Mental Health

36:05 How Lawrence Started Coaching

38:26 Knowing When to Refer to a Professional

39:15 Predatory Coaching & Vulnerable People

43:06 What Lawrence Would Say to His Father

45:55 Forgiveness Without Forgetting

46:02 Understanding Why People Hurt People

49:00 Online Hate, Projection & Unresolved Pain

54:16 Who Lawrence Is When Nobody Is Watching

57:20 Love vs Codependency

59:19 Where to Find Lawrence

1:00:12 Final Message

RAW MINDS PODCAST

Real conversations about trauma, survival, mental health, grief, addiction, fatherhood, relationships, PTSD, accountability and rebuilding.

For the ones we’ll never meet.

Healing out loud.

Business / Guest Inquiries:

rawmindspodcast@gmail.com

PARENTPATH

https://parentpath.ca/

ParentPath helps self-represented parents organize family court evidence, timelines, documents and case information.

Stage 4 colon cancer had already spread to Tim McDonald’s liver when his life changed completely.What started as pain in his side around Thanksgiving 2020 led to the words nobody wants to hear: “You have cancer.”In this episode of Raw Minds, Tim shares his stage 4 colorectal cancer story, chemotherapy, colon cancer treatment, the search for a living liver donor, liver transplant surgery, survivor’s guilt, cancer advocacy, and the stranger who ultimately gave him part of her liver.Tim says only 13% of people with stage 4 colorectal cancer live five years after diagnosis. Instead of treating that number like the end of his story, he focused on one question: what do I need to do next?He explains how becoming one of the early colorectal cancer patients in North America to receive a liver transplant gave him more time, but surviving created a new mental battle. After watching people in the cancer community die, Tim had to figure out what to do with his second chance.That journey became a mission.Today Tim is a cancer survivor, patient advocate, speaker, community builder, and author of From Patient to Advocate: Turning Survivorship Into Impact.This conversation is about stage 4 cancer, colorectal cancer, chemotherapy, liver transplant, colon cancer screening, survivor’s guilt, grief, mental health, purpose, second chances, and turning survival into something that can help someone else.TIM McDONALDBook:From Patient to Advocate: Turning Survivorship Into ImpactAvailable on Amazon — search Tim McDonald From Patient to AdvocateWebsite / Podcast / Advocacy:https://advocacyatwork.comLinkedIn:Search Tim A. McDonaldCHAPTERS00:00 Stage 4 Cancer Changed Everything02:49 Welcome to Tim McDonald03:25 Tim’s Book and Advocacy Work04:14 Who Tim Was Before Cancer07:15 The Pain That Started Everything09:20 The CT Scan That Found Cancer09:34 Hearing “You Have Cancer”10:22 How Tim Reacted to the Diagnosis11:20 What Do I Need to Do Next?13:06 The Doctor Who Changed His Direction15:17 Learning How Serious Stage 4 Cancer Was17:11 The Emotional Roller Coaster18:36 Finding Purpose Inside Cancer21:39 Colon Cancer Screening and Colonoscopy22:48 The Reality of Chemotherapy24:16 Becoming a Colorectal Cancer Advocate25:19 What Research Advocacy Means27:17 Finding the Liver Transplant Option27:41 How a Living Donor Liver Transplant Works29:21 The 13% Five-Year Survival Reality29:52 Qualifying for a Liver Transplant30:50 Searching for a Living Donor32:43 Why Finding a Donor Was Harder Than Treatment34:39 A Stranger Becomes His Donor35:43 Meeting the Woman Who Saved His Life37:25 The Mental Battle After Transplant38:34 Survivor’s Guilt After Cancer40:29 Losing Friends in the Cancer Community40:54 Turning Their Memory Into Purpose43:20 The Fear Tim Didn’t Admit During Treatment44:15 Why Mindset Matters47:17 Tim’s Final Message47:28 Where to Find TimRAW MINDS PODCASTReal conversations about trauma, survival, mental health, grief, addiction, fatherhood, relationships, PTSD, and rebuilding.For the ones we’ll never meet.Healing out loud.Business / Guest Inquiries:rawmindspodcast@gmail.comPARENTPATHhttps://parentpath.ca/ParentPath helps self-represented parents organize family court evidence, timelines, documents, and case information.

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