Episode 20

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Published on:

17th Aug 2025

Blame Is a Drug. Healing Starts When You Quit

Dallas Carlos joins Leticia to unravel one of the deepest roots of survival mode: the story we keep telling ourselves. From addiction and trauma to radical awareness and reinvention, this episode is a raw, soul-shaking breakdown of how the “survivor identity” keeps us trapped—and how we disrupt it for good.

  • 🎭 Why your story is not your identity
  • 🧠 Blame as the first addiction (and how it morphs)
  • ⚡ The moment cancer became his wake-up call
  • 🎙️ Radical responsibility vs. victimhood
  • 🚫 Why Dallas rejects gratitude culture
  • 🧰 The power of detaching from the story mind
  • ❤️‍🔥 You don’t need more healing. You need less BS.

🎙️ What We Talk About:

  • How we build our identity from trauma
  • The addiction to survival and struggle
  • Replacing “survivor” with wholeness
  • Beliefs vs. truth—how to tell the difference
  • The nervous system’s real role in depression
  • Reclaiming the now: why the present is all that matters
  • How to actually begin releasing your old story


🔑 Key Takeaways:

“Blame is the first addiction we all grab onto—it’s the quickest escape from responsibility.”
“Survivor is not a badge—it’s a burden masked as strength.”
“There is no trauma in the present moment—only the belief that we’re still living in it.”
“Stop believing in yourself… if the self you believe in is a lie built on pain.”


Why This Episode Matters:


This isn’t another “feel good” healing conversation. It’s a disruptive, necessary reckoning with the identities we’ve normalized. If you’re tired of carrying trauma like it’s your personality, this episode will wake you up—and give you permission to put it down. Because surviving was never the end goal. Thriving is.


💬 Connect with Dallas:

  • 📖 Book: The Gift is the Present
  • 📧 Email: dallascarlos@gmail.com
  • 🌐 Find him on Facebook & YouTube by searching his name


🔗 Resources & Links:



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Show artwork for Survival Mode Disrupted with Leticia R Francis

About the Podcast

Survival Mode Disrupted with Leticia R Francis
Disrupted Unapologetic Conversations about Survival Mode
Survival Mode Disrupted is not just a podcast. It's a rebellion.

A raw, unfiltered space where we finally stop pretending we're fine and start telling the truth—the truth about the trauma we've carried, the identities they had to wear to survive, and the radical decisions we made to break free.

Because here's the deal: survival mode isn’t just a season. It’s a damn identity. One that so many were forced to adopt just to get through life, to stay safe, to stay needed, to stay sane. But eventually, it starts costing you more than it protects. Your peace. Your purpose. Your power.

This podcast is for the disruptors—the people who were told to stay small, stay silent, stay grateful for crumbs… and said “hell no.”

Hosted by Leticia, The Survival Mode Disruptor herself—a trauma recovery mentor, speaker, and woman who has lived through the fires of abuse, betrayal, and breakdown and still chose to rise—this show dives deep into the unapologetic exits from survival mode that no one talks about.

You’ll hear from women (and a few brave men) who walked away from toxic relationships, soul-sucking careers, generational dysfunction, religious trauma, cultural expectations, and the lies they were taught to believe about themselves. Not because it was easy—but because staying would’ve killed something sacred inside of them.

These are the stories of bold pivots, quiet courage, and messy but miraculous rebirths.

Each episode is a conversation—a disruption—meant to wake something up in you. Whether it’s a guest sharing the moment they chose themselves for the first time, or Leticia dropping a truth bomb that makes you question everything you’ve normalized, this podcast is here to shake the foundation of your survival mode identity and replace it with something truer. Something freer.

We’re not here for surface-level self-care tips or fake empowerment slogans.

We’re here to talk about what it really takes to:

Reclaim your voice after being silenced.

Reinvent yourself after being broken down.

Rewrite your story when everyone else wants you to stay the same.

Release the guilt of choosing YOU.

This is for those who are done performing. Done pleasing. Done pretending.

It’s for the ones ready to exit survival mode—not slowly, not quietly, but disruptively and unapologetically.

You won’t leave this podcast the same.
You’ll cry. You’ll rage. You’ll laugh.
You’ll see yourself in every story.
And more importantly, you’ll remember who the hell you are.

Welcome to Survival Mode Disrupted.
It’s not just a podcast.
It’s a movement.
And your exit begins here.

About your host

Profile picture for Leticia Francis

Leticia Francis

I am not here to inspire you—I am here to activate you.

As a Survivor, Keynote Speaker, and Trauma Recovery Mentor, I know what it’s like to fight battles no one sees. I also know that breaking free is possible. My work is about disrupting survival mode, exposing trauma-driven success cycles, and giving women the blueprint to reclaim their lives.

🔹 200+ podcast features & speaking engagements
🔹 Global Women of Choice Award Winner 2022
🔹 Creator of the Survival Mode Exit Plan
🔹 Host of Survival Mode Disrupted Podcast