167: Jessica: Creating Community For Domestic Violence Survivors

Jessica’s story started in high school with a boyfriend who seemed amazing. He was the class clown, a football player and very into her. In the early years she was able to explain his problematic behavior as expressions of his love for her. There was no physical abuse at first. If she just tried harder his behavior would stop. Then when the violence came it was only when drinking. The alcohol was the problem. If he could only eliminate that, those things wouldn’t happen anymore. Then just as her father died, she found out she was pregnant. The physical abuse stopped and the behavior that remained could be explained away with the stresses of having a baby. They got married shortly after and life felt somewhat manageable until the physical abuse began again and brought new levels of daily torment. He monitored her every move. He installed cameras in the house. He had eclipsed every good thing in her life. It wasn’t until her 3rd attempt at leaving that she finally got away, but real freedom didn’t come until her husband was sent to prison. With him gone she felt things should be better, but the hole inside her remained and with it came a string of destructive relationships until she finally did the internal work necessary to find a stable and healthy relationship. Today, Jessica is an internationally-recognized healthy relationships expert, speaker, trainer, and Certified Professional Coach with more than 2 decades of experience. She is also the Co-founder and President of the nationally-recognized non-profit, No Silence, No Violence, and former President of The San Diego Domestic Violence Council. If you or someone you know needs help, the National Domestic Violence Hotline Phone Number is 800-799-7233. You can also text the National Domestic Violence Hotline by texting "start" to 88788 Episode Resources No Silence No Violence | speakingoutnsnv.org National Domestic Violence Hotline| thehotline.org Connect with The Courage to Change Podcast Website | lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast Podcast Instagram | @couragetochange_podcast YouTube | The Courage to Change Podcast TikTok | @ashleyloebblassingame Podcast Email | podcast@lionrock.life Podcast Facebook | @thecouragetochangepodcast Lionrock Resources Lionrock Life Mobile App | lionrock.life/mobile-app Support Group Meeting Schedule | lionrock.life/meetings