[Content Warning]: Discussion of child sexual abuse, clergy abuse, trafficking, harm to an infant, medical trauma, stalking, and suicide. Morgan speaks candidly.

Morgan Scafe is a wife, mother, author, and survivor of childhood abuse. From age eight to sixteen, she was abused inside her best friend's family home, in a community where a Catholic school, a priest, and a diocese were part of the picture. In this conversation with Jan Broberg, Morgan tells that story in three parts: the wound, the work, and the way forward.

Morgan talks about leaving at sixteen, reporting at nineteen with an attorney by her side, and testifying at a trial where the statute of limitations kept much of what happened out of the courtroom. She describes three decades of recovery, including inpatient trauma programs, EMDR, art therapy, and the writing that became two memoirs, Carpenter Road: Sentence to Silence and Carpenter Road: The Inadmissible Years.

She and Jan also discuss forgiving her mother, why unhealed trauma gets passed down, what it costs survivors and the public when laws fall short, and why Morgan is speaking out in support of survivor-rights legislation in Michigan. Morgan also shares how it felt to hear her experience described as trafficking, and why she wants her second book required reading for future teachers.

Buy Morgan’s Books:
Carpenter Road : Sentenced to Silence
Carpenter Road : The Inadmissible Years

Where To Find Morgan:
MorganScafe.net
Insta: @Morgan.Scafe

Mentioned Resources:
Joan of Heart

If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress or suicidal ideation, please access the resources below:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call/Text 988
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) : 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
National Alliance for Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

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[Content Warning]: This episode contains references to the sexual and physical abuse discussed in Part One, brief descriptions of a dangerous winter escape, and Elishaba’s description of suicidal thoughts during a difficult period of years after leaving. It also includes later discussion of divorce and a serious cancer diagnosis.

When we left Elishaba Doerksen at the end of Part One, she had just made the hardest decision of her life: to run.

In Part Two, she picks up the story; a harrowing escape across thirty-below wilderness, a police report that finally ended her father’s control over the family, and the long, unglamorous work of healing that followed. Elishaba talks openly about the years it took to unlearn what she’d been taught, a marriage that echoed some of the same patterns of control, becoming a mother and learning what love actually felt like, a cancer diagnosis that reordered her priorities, and the day she finally stood at her father’s grave and said the words "I forgive you."

This is the second half of a story that doesn’t wrap up neatly — because real healing rarely does. It’s also, in Elishaba’s own words, full of hope.

Elishaba is the author of Out of the Wilderness and now speaks around the world as an advocate for survivors of abuse. If you haven’t heard Part One yet, we’d recommend starting there.

Where To Find Elishaba:
Out of the Wilderness: Escaping My Father's Prison and My Journey to Forgiveness – On Amazon
Insta: @elishabadoerksen

If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress or suicidal ideation, please access the resources below:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call/Text 988
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) : 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
National Alliance for Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

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[Content Warning]: Discussions and descriptions of a firsthand account of childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse, animal cruelty, and religious manipulation within a controlling family system.

For years, the world knew Elishaba Doerksen’s father only as "Papa Pilgrim", the patriarch who led his family of fifteen children deep into the Alaska wilderness, cut off from roads, neighbors, and anyone who might ask questions. What the world didn’t know was what was happening inside that isolation.

In Part One of this two-part conversation, Elishaba sits down with Jan Broberg to share, in her own words, what it was like to grow up as the oldest of fifteen siblings under her father’s total control, the religious manipulation that kept the family bound to him, the abuse she endured for years, and the slow, careful process of recognizing, as an adult, that none of it was ever her fault.

This is not an easy listen, but it is an honest one. Elishaba speaks with remarkable clarity about how abuse takes root, how faith can be twisted into a weapon, and how even inside the worst circumstances, small moments of truth can plant the seed that eventually grows into freedom.

Part One ends at the turning point — the moment Elishaba decided she could not stay another day. Part Two picks up with the escape itself and the long road that followed.

Elishaba is the author of Out of the Wilderness, and today she speaks around the world as an advocate for survivors of abuse.

Where To Find Elishaba:
Out of the Wilderness: Escaping My Father's Prison and My Journey to Forgiveness – Buy It On Amazon
Insta: @elishabadoerksen

If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress or suicidal ideation, please access the resources below:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call/Text 988
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) : 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
National Alliance for Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

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🎵 Spotify
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❣️ JAN BROBERG FOUNDATION
🌐 JanBrobergFoundation.org
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⏳ T.I.M.E. Program
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📖 The Jan Broberg Story (book)
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[Content Warning]: Discussions of childhood sexual abuse, domestic abuse, suicidal ideation

Leanne Sheargold spent 25 years as a teacher before a stroke at 28 left her relearning how to walk, write, and dress herself. Decades later, on an ordinary evening, when her husband went through her phone, cracks opened in a marriage she hadn't yet let herself see clearly. In this episode of Trauma Interrupted, Leanne tells Jan Broberg how her body carried a childhood secret for 52 years, what happened the night she finally left her marriage, and how she rebuilt her life as a quantum healing practitioner who now helps other women release trauma stored in their own bodies.

They talk about the slow, hard-to-name shape of financial and emotional control, what it means to become a “chain breaker” in your own family line, and why Leanne calls herself lucky that her memories waited until she was ready to hold them. She also shares the book that helped her finally understand her body's symptoms, why she chose a gentler healing modality after months of intensive EMDR, and one simple grounding practice you can try today.

This is a conversation about the wound, the work, and the way forward; about naming what happened, setting boundaries with people who won't, and choosing, morning by morning, to come home to your own body.

Where To Find Leanne:

Her Website: PureGoldHolisticWellbeing.com
Leanne’s Insta: @leanne_sheargold
Pure Gold Holistic and Wellbeing Insta: @puregoldholisticwellbeing
Leanne’s Facebook: @Leanne.Sheargold
Pure Gold Holistic and Wellbeing Facebook: @PureGoldHolisticWellbeing

Mentioned Resources:
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress or suicidal ideation, please access the resources below:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call/Text 988
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) : 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
National Alliance for Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

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❣️ JAN BROBERG FOUNDATION
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[Content Warning]: Discussions of coercive control, financial abuse and exploitation, isolation, dissociation; non-graphic mentions of child sexual abuse and sexual assault by a partner, suicidal ideation

Sarma Melngailis was a Wharton-educated entrepreneur who built New York City’s first upscale raw vegan restaurant, Pure Food and Wine, and the wellness brand One Lucky Duck. From the outside, she had it all. Then she met a man online who, over five years, siphoned her business, her savings, her mother’s money, and ultimately her sense of self, a slow-motion collapse she now recognizes as textbook coercive control.

In this conversation with Jan Broberg, Sarma, author of her memoir The Girl with the Duck Tattoo, talks about how a predator uses “data mining” to learn your fears and dreams before ever meeting you in person, what it feels like to dissociate into what she calls a “zombie state,” and why she believes intelligence and openness make people more vulnerable to manipulation, not less. She also opens up about being diagnosed with autism at 51, the arrest that she says ultimately set her free, and her frustration with how her story was mangled in the Netflix docuseries Bad Vegan.

Jan and Sarma talk through the mechanics of coercive control, isolation, gaslighting, financial exploitation, and the confusion and fear that keep someone locked in place long after their instincts are screaming at them to leave. It’s a conversation about how brilliant, accomplished people get pulled into these dynamics, and how they find their way back to themselves.


Buy Sarma’s Memoir: The Girl with the Duck Tattoo: A Memoir
TheGirlWithTheDuckTattoo.com

Where to Find Sarma:
Insta: @sarmamelngailis
Substack: @sarmamelngailis

Mentioned Resources:
Mariana Van Zeller’s works: MarianaVanZeller.me

If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress or suicidal ideation, please access the resources below:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call/Text 988
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) : 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
National Alliance for Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

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❣️ JAN BROBERG FOUNDATION
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[Content Warning]: Discussions of childhood emotional neglect, adoption-based abandonment wounds, inappropriate aged relationship, domestic violence, suicidal ideation

Jessica Anne Pressler grew up in a home that looked safe from the outside, two successful parents, financial security, good schools, but there wasn't much room inside for feelings. Her father's alcoholism and her mother's emotional distance taught her early to be the good girl, to stay invisible, and to look the other way. At nine years old, she learned in a matter of minutes that she was adopted and was going to have a sibling. By fifteen, she was in a relationship with a twenty-year-old that would turn abusive.

Jessica is now a Columbia-trained psychotherapist with almost four decades in the field, and in this conversation with Jan Broberg, she introduces the concept she calls the Traitor Within, the coping mechanisms we build as children to feel safe, and the ways they quietly work against us as adults. She traces her own path from that first toxic relationship through years of therapizing, her own therapy, being a grief counselor, and finally to writing Traitor Within, a novel that lets readers recognize themselves in a story rather than a clinical label.

Jan and Jessica talk about naming trauma responses instead of pathologizing them, how an abandonment wound shapes adult relationships, careers, and friendships, and what it looks like to interrupt an intergenerational cycle, even decades into doing the work.

Traitor Within is available for pre-order now and ships September 22, 2026. Learn more at jessicaannepressler.com.

Pre-Order Jessica’s Book:
Traitor Within ByJessica Anne Pressler

After You’ve Pre-Ordered, To Receive The Year of Journal Prompts Follow These Steps:
1) Find your Amazon or Barnes & Noble order number
2) Go to JessicaAnnePressler.com/the-books
3) Fill out the form and await your email

Where to Find Jessica:
JessicaAnnePressler.com
Insta: @JessicaAnnePressler

If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress or suicidal ideation, please access the resources below:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call/Text 988
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) : 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
National Alliance for Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

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❣️ JAN BROBERG FOUNDATION
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[Content Warning]: Discussions of childhood sexual abuse, family disbelief and blame, self-harm, and domestic and financial abuse.

Sophia Moreno is a survivor, author, and advocate who turned decades of silence into a mission of belief. In this episode of Trauma Interrupted, Sophia joins Jan Broberg to talk about surviving childhood sexual abuse by a family member starting at age seven, the disbelief and blame she faced from part of her family, and the long road to finding her voice.

Sophia is the founder and president of Sophia's Hope for a Safer Tomorrow, a survivor-led nonprofit and support community, and the author of two books, “I Am a Survivor: Saying No More to Domestic Violence” and “A Message to My Abuser: Saying No to Abuse,” with a third book on breaking generational trauma currently in progress. She shares how writing letters to her abusers became a turning point in her healing, why she chose to become a rape crisis counselor, and how her family navigated financial abuse after her father's departure.

Jan and Sophia talk honestly about generational trauma, the corrosive effect of blame and shame, and what it means to finally be seen, heard, and believed. Sophia also offers practical guidance for anyone questioning a relationship or situation that doesn't feel right: trust your instinct and find a person you can talk to.

Where To Find Sophia:
Sophia’s Website: SophiasHopes.org
Facebook: Sophia's Hope for a Safer Tomorrow

Sophia’s Books:
I Am a Survivor: Saying No More to Domestic Violence
A Message to My Abuser: Saying No to Abuse

If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress or suicidal ideation, please access the resources below:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call/Text 988
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) : 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
National Alliance for Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

🎧 LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE
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🎵 Spotify
▶️ YouTube

❣️ JAN BROBERG FOUNDATION
🌐 JanBrobergFoundation.org
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⏳ T.I.M.E. Program
🔎 SPOT6
📖 The Jan Broberg Story (book)
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[Content Warning]: Discussions of childhood trafficking (including trafficking by a parent), fragmented and somatic trauma memories, mild language, two near-death experiences involving resuscitation (mention of suicide)

Kristin Howe is a Canadian author whose psychological thriller carries real trauma survivor narratives inside. Her debut novel, Unbound, follows Piper, a survivor of childhood trafficking, and the emotional truth behind Piper's story comes straight from Kristin's own life.

In this conversation with Jan, Kristin talks about writing Unbound as a way to finally hold pieces of her own memory that had been locked away for years. She describes what EMDR therapy actually felt like from the inside, how implicit memories become explicit ones, and why trusting a fragmented memory is still trusting the truth. She also opens up about the Stellate Ganglion Block, a treatment that gave her, for the first time, a sense of what it feels like to live outside constant fight-or-flight.

The conversation moves into some of the harder truths about trafficking, including how survivors are sometimes coerced into recruiting others and then charged as traffickers themselves, and into Liam, a character in Unbound whose story opens up a conversation about male survivors that doesn't get talked about enough.

Kristin also shares how healing changed her parenting, how creativity rebuilt pathways her trauma had shut down, and how two near-death experiences reshaped her sense of purpose as a child. She's the founder of Project Raven, an initiative helping survivors tell their own stories on their own terms.

This episode covers heavy ground with care. If you need support after listening, resources are linked below.

Buy Kristin's Book:
Unbound: Not All Chains Are Visible

Where To Find Kristin:
Project Raven (via Kristin's site): InnerPanda.ca
Insta: @inner.panda.ca
Facebook: @InnerPanda

Mentioned Resources:
Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It by Kamal Ravikant

If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress or suicidal ideation, please access the resources below:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call/Text 988
National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) : 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
National Alliance for Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

🎧 LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE
🍎 Apple Podcasts
🎵 Spotify
▶️ YouTube

❣️ JAN BROBERG FOUNDATION
🌐 JanBrobergFoundation.org
🫂 Survivor Circle (free community)
⏳ T.I.M.E. Program
🔎 SPOT6
📖 The Jan Broberg Story (book)
🗞️ Newsletter

📲 CONNECT
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✍️ Share Your Story

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