Episode 45

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Published on:

8th Sep 2025

When Chaos Feels Like Home

In this deeply honest episode of Survival Mode Disrupted, Dawn shares her powerful story of early abuse, emotional chaos, and the physical and relational toll of unprocessed trauma. As a longtime nurse, she began seeing patterns—both in her patients and in herself—and realized what she’d been carrying wasn’t just pain… it was grief.

Together, we unravel the hidden grief trauma survivors hold and explore why real healing requires more than talk—it requires tools.

  • 💔 The 7-year abusive relationship that shaped her survival response
  • 🧠 The hypervigilance that never went away—even in safe relationships
  • 📉 The cost of unhealed trauma on the body, mind, and marriage
  • 🔄 Why therapy wasn’t enough—and what finally helped her release
  • 🔨 The Grief Recovery Method and redefining grief beyond death
  • 🧳 Unpacking the “emotional backpack” we carry through life
  • 🗝️ Ownership, empowerment, and the truth about letting go

🎙️ What We Talk About:

  • How trauma disguises itself as “normal” when we’re young
  • The hidden grief of transitions, breakups, and emotional neglect
  • Why surviving abuse often leads to recreating chaos
  • The false sense of safety we carry—and how to rewrite that story
  • The difference between talking about healing and actually healing
  • How grief recovery offers an action-based approach to letting go
  • Releasing self-blame, guilt, and shame to make room for joy


🔑 Key Takeaways:

“Where you are is only one page of your story. It’s not the whole book.”
“Survival mode teaches you that chaos is normal. Healing teaches you that peace is safe.”
“If you’re still reacting like it’s happening now—it means your body is still holding it.”
“You can’t thrive without ownership. Even when it hurts, you have to name it to release it.”


🙌 Why This Episode Matters:

Grief is not just about death—it’s about every unprocessed goodbye we never made. This conversation peels back the layers of survival and exposes how trauma, when unhealed, keeps us locked in patterns that rob us of love, connection, and peace. Dawn’s story is raw and real, and her healing journey is proof that it’s never too late to let go of what’s hurting you and claim what’s waiting for you: joy, safety, and power.

💬 Connect with Dawn:

  • 🌐 Website: www.dawnmichellejackson.com
  • 📱 Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube → Search: Dawn Michelle Jackson


🔗 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.

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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