As I wrote in one of my prior blogs/updates, my first foray into the world of being interviewed by a podcaster was a complete disaster. The podcaster failed to adequately prepare by reading my free book I sent him, and he failed to read the documentation on my stopabusivelawsuits website.
Without recounting what I wrote earlier about this podcast interview debacle, the experience nonetheless served as a learning lesson for how I choose other podcasters to interview me.
Since that first disappointing podcast interview, I have had several excellent interviews by podcasters here in the States, in Canada, the UK, and Africa. They’ve prepared well for interviewing me by either reading my book or reading about my book, and they’ve read the documentation on my websites. I thank those podcasters for caring about their audiences as they work to inform and encourage those who, like myself, are victims/survivors of familial abuse and stalking, or cult/spiritual abuse, or who have likewise encountered the same corruption and brokenness of our court system and “law enforcement.” In my podcast interviews I have focused on educating, not merely “kvetching”, about my own experience. I give tips I’ve learned on how to cope in the midst of being victimized, emphasizing the importance of having a reliable support system. I recount my efforts to try to change laws to offer more protections to victims. I encourage people to speak up and tell their story online. Most importantly I emphasize that keeping one’s sanity involves courageously accepting the road that none of us chose to be on, learning all that can be learned on this unexpected journey, standing up for oneself, being kind and compassionate to oneself and to others, gaining or maintaining faith in a good, loving, just God, keeping the eternal perspective, and choosing in the here and now gratitude for even the smallest of good things. Doing these things wrests power away from the abuser.
I’ve received excellent feedback on my podcast interviews, and I truly hope these interviews are of help to others going through or trying to heal from their own traumatic experiences. Lastly, for fellow authors like myself, podcast interviews provide an opportunity to promote our books and websites, which are, again, intended to be of benefit to others.
I encourage other victim/survivors to seek out appropriate and professional podcasts so as to give yourself the opportunity to make your voices heard. It’s important to let other victim/survivors know that they are not alone. We have a right to speak the truth and to offer encouragement to others.