Breaking Silence
Welcome to the Breaking Silence Podcast. Throughout this podcast, our Executive Director, Alli Meyerhardt, interviews those that are impacted by interpersonal violence as a way for us to learn how we can all be a part of violence prevention. In this space, we hope that you will find healing, understanding and empathy. We are all Breakers!
Episodes
Welcome back to another season of the Breaking Silence Podcast!
In our first episode of 2025, we were able to connect with Zoey, the Policy and Grassroots Coordinator at RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network). Zoey shares insights into RAINN's multifaceted efforts to support survivors of sexual violence, including their operation of the National Sexual Assault Hotline and their advocacy work throughout...
**Trigger Warning: Sexual violence and abuse are discussed in this episode**
Throughout this episode we hear from Julie Ann, Executive Director of The Army of Survivors (TAOS), and Dani, a Co-Founder and Board Member of TAOS. We discuss how being an organization created by athletes who have survived sexual violence for athletes allows them to bring awareness to the systemic problem of sexual abuse of athlete...
The post conviction process for a survivor of sexual violence can be a very lonely, overwhelming and confusing moment in their journey. In this episode, we have the amazing opportunity to learn more about what that is like for folks, what support is out there and how putting the survivors voice and story first is a major step in getting some of the power back. Casey, walks us through what it is like to walk along surv...
Catcalling has been so normalized in our society that we often dismiss it and assume that it does not do any harm. Terra Lopez, host and creator of "This is What it Feels Like", joins us as she talks us through the often untold consequences that come from catcalling such as harassment, sexual assault and even murder. We walk through the power of learning and owning what our words and actions may be doing to...
Creating change and safe spaces in the beer industry takes time, commitment, maturity and a desire to always listen to what those working within it are telling us. Throughout the episode Ryan Stack and I talk through what his time at Prairie Artisan Ales was like and how they created a culture based on believing staff, showing up for one another as a team and the need to be constantly working at a culture.
I...
Talking with Sonya, a Clinical Director and Sex Offender Management Board Clinical Supervisor for Juveniles, is a window into empathy for juveniles who are currently in the Youthful Offender System in Colorado. She shares with us not only her years of experience as a therapist, but the way in which her life and philosophies have helped shape her approach. She has centered herself and her work around bringing your full...
Camil invites us into her story in a way that encapsulates what it means to face our stories. To face some of the hardest moments of our lives and those who acted within our world. It is not easy to give people the vulnerability that Camil does, and we know that her words will bring healing and understanding to so many.
Please know that this episode does go into detail about sexual abuse, drug use, and domest...
Maya is a diversity, equity, and inclusion facilitator, who has joined us to talk through her expertise, how we can all continue the conversation around equity and inclusion, and what it means to be a true ally to others.
The journey of finding your power and privilege is not an easy one, and we hope the tools laid out in the episode will help in whatever DEI and violence prevention journey you may be on
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Connecting to ourselves is not always a straight line. How we find our journey through healing is immensely personal, which is why we are so grateful for the honesty and vulnerability that Jenna brings. Jenna is an emotional healing educator, meditation teacher, retreat leader, hypnotherapist, HeartMath Facilitator, and founder of the Emotional Healing System. For the past two decades she has taught thousands interna...
Susan and Alexander Prout are the founders of the I Have The Right To organization, which is committed to creating an ecosystem of respect and support for students and survivors of sexual assault. Throughout our conversation we discuss the bravery of their daughter Chessy, the walls of silence and shame that institutions systemically create, healing as an act of communion, and how we can disrupt the power of toxic ma...
Sergeant Mike Harris sits down to guide us through how online sex crimes against children has changed over the years, ways in which we can start having honest and prevention based conversations with the kids in our lives, and the impact that time and space has on how our stories develop. Believing a survivor is not just about believing their first out cry, it is knowing that their story will change and over time. It i...
To kickoff season 3, we sit down with Morgan from Highland Park Brewery (HPB) and walk through what is like to do one of our trainings, the impacts it has had and continues to have with staff, and how our work together is helping disrupt some of the previous standards within the beer industry.
We started our work in the beer space in 2020 as women within the industry started to come forward to share their st...
Dave Pelzer is a New York Times best selling author, a survivor, and someone that has helped countless people through the power of his story. Alli and Dave talk through the process of writing his new book Return to the River, how he has moved through life holding space for his abuse and for his adult self to heal, and what he sees now, 50 years after his rescue.
You can hear the "From Heart To Heard" talk on our website! We are so excited to have Dave Pelzer here next week as we continue our journey through this season. Please share with us your why and reactions to our video .
This week, we talk with Karen about her story of surviving abuse at the hands of her stepfather. The idea of that to be loved means to experience abuse was a common story told to her not only by her abusive stepfather but by religious leaders. Karen has had to reframe her story to become one about love for herself, how the abuse is not her shame to carry and the work she is doing in finding self love and grace.
In this episode we are joined by Amanda as she talks us through her stories of survival, why she has kept her stories silent and how she ended up in litigation against a powerful ride share company. This episode is a wonderful example of how we can still be in our pain and going through it and know that when we talk to safe people they will believe and see us, not shame and silence us. There is no perfection or fini...
It is never easy to find your voice or feelings when a story feels outside of you. We talk with Will, a secondary survivor who is on a journey of understanding the impact that abuse has had on his mother's life and their relationship. As he feels his own pain through knowing what she want through, he is finding new ways to connect with her, empower her and help her break her silence even further. The biggest thi...
This week we chat with Lori Poland, Executive Director of EndCAN and author of I Live Here: learning to heal through embracing your own story
When Lori was kidnapped at the age of 3, her world and the world of others turned upside down. Her journey has been one of finding her voice in a tragedy that was mostly told to her and trying to understand what it means to have "joint custody" of your story. ...
Author Lynn Forney shares with us her journey of survival and healing which she details in her book: Choosing Survival: How I Endured a Brutal Attack and a Lifetime of Trauma through the Power of Action, Choice, and Self Expression.
We move through the power of art and imagination as a way to make friends with our past, how we can show kindness to our inner child and how a little bit of silly can go a long...
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