Episode 35

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Published on:

7th Sep 2025

Somatic Healing, Self-Betrayal & Starting Over

Brie’s story is one of emotional honesty, layered trauma, and radical relocation—from domestic violence in New York to healing in Spain. As a somatic therapist, she now helps other women reconnect with their bodies and regulate their nervous systems to truly exit survival mode.

This episode peels back the reality of survival mode, how trauma trains us to settle for pain, and why learning to listen to our bodies is the ultimate homecoming.


  • What you’ll hear:
  • ✨ What somatic therapy really is—and how it saved her
  • 💥 Why journaling exposed the truth she was hiding from herself
  • 🧠 How trauma wires us for disconnection (and how to rewrite it)
  • 📍 What survival mode feels like in the body
  • 🚫 Why comparison is another trauma response
  • 🔑 The moment she knew “love” had become self-betrayal


🎙️ What We Talk About:

  • First-generation trauma, abandonment wounds, and survival relationships
  • The emotional chaos of narcissistic love and dissociation
  • Why peace often feels “wrong” when you’ve normalized chaos
  • The power of journaling and embodiment for trauma recovery
  • How to identify emotional red flags in the body before they escalate
  • The beauty of starting over—physically, emotionally, and spiritually
  • Parts work, nervous system awareness, and self-trust practices


🔑 Key Takeaways:

“We’re not taught what urgency or desperation feels like in the body.”
“The trauma didn’t end when the relationship ended—my body carried the rest.”
“You don’t have to hate your past self to become your healed self.”
“Even a peaceful life can feel unfamiliar when survival was your norm.”


🙌 Why This Episode Matters:

We talk about trauma like it’s in the past. But for most of us, it’s in our nervous system. In this deeply relatable and educational episode, Brie shows us how to gently come back to the body, build self-trust, and understand the survival-based patterns that kept us stuck in pain. Her story is a call to remember that healing doesn’t start when you leave—it starts when you finally listen.


💬 Connect with Brie:

🔗 Resources & Links:



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About the Podcast

Survival Mode Disrupted with Leticia R Francis
Disruptive 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.

Support This Show

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