Episode 16

full
Published on:

17th Aug 2025

The Cost of Being Alienated from Your Kids

This episode cuts deep. Marissa Conway—emergency room nurse, mother, and now author—shares the brutal truth about how parental alienation ripped her life apart. From being sent away as a teen to being accused of abuse by her ex-husband, her story reveals the silent warfare many parents endure.

  • 💔 Growing up with emotional manipulation and trauma
  • 🧠 The invisible onset of survival mode in adulthood
  • 🔥 The shame of being alienated from your own children
  • 📉 Risky financial decisions and self-sabotage
  • 🌱 The power of forgiveness and reinvention
  • 🛑 Why the legal system often fails alienated parents
  • ✊ How she’s turning her pain into purpose


🎙️ What We Talk About:

  • Parental alienation as both child and parent
  • The hidden shame that keeps survivors silent
  • How trauma hijacks executive function
  • The slow unraveling that survival mode creates
  • Reclaiming power through reinvention
  • The emotional toll of Lawfare in toxic divorces
  • Creating change through storytelling and coaching

🔑 Key Takeaways:

“Parental alienation doesn’t leave bruises—but it leaves scars that never fully heal.”
“When survival mode kicks in, you’re not making choices—you’re dodging bullets.”
“I sabotaged myself because I forgot I was worthy of saving.”
“Real healing began the moment I forgave myself.”


🙌 Why This Episode Matters:

Parental alienation is one of the most silenced traumas in family dynamics—and it's costing parents their children and their sanity. Marissa’s story is a gut-wrenching reminder that survival mode often starts long before we recognize it. If you've ever questioned your worth, blamed yourself for being discarded, or felt the sting of being misunderstood—this episode is for you. Let it validate you, challenge you, and move you toward your own reinvention.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

Show artwork for Survival Mode Disrupted with Leticia R Francis

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