On Today’s episode, Angela interviews Rachael Joseph, the cofounder and executive director of Survivors Lead. One of the many reasons for starting Survivors Lead is to offer political training to assist survivors of gun violence, sexual violence, sex trafficking and domestic violence to run for office. On this episode Rachael shares her story relating to gun violence. In September of 2003, Rachael was a 25-year-old college student studying to be a veterinarian. After working an over night shift at an emergency veterinary clinic, Rachael received a voicemail from her dad saying her Aunt Shelley had been shot. After arriving at the hospital, Rachael was informed her Aunt had passed away and was shot by a distant cousin of her grandmother. Find out more about Rachael’s experience and how she continues to advocate in this episode.

Key Topics

• Trauma isn’t a wound that heals, it changes
• PTSD
• Where the gun came from
• The trauma of the trial
• Trying to understand the psychology of the shooter
• Learning who your real friends are
• Coping with gun violence
• How trauma changes you
• Grief counseling
• Shout out to the people who show up
• The struggle of regulating emotions with PTSD
• The “lotus moment”
• Importance of self care and soul care

Contact Rachael
Website: Survivorslead.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/survivorslead1/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Angela True is a writer, speaker, coach and counselor in training. Through narrative therapy, coaching and walking with survivors, Angela counsels others on grief, loss, trauma and resilience. As a survivor of gun violence, Angela created Mud to Lotus as a way to talk with people about how they crawled out of the darkest day of their life. You can find Angela at angelatruewriter.com and contact her at [email protected]. Angela also provides 20 minute free consultations. To schedule, please visit angelatruewriter.com/coaching/.