In this powerful episode of Not That Girl Anymore, trauma therapist and coach Dawn Bouillon explores what true empathy looks like when someone says, “I was abused.” Why do so many survivors face a second wound—not being believed—after the initial harm? How can we respond in ways that create safety instead of silence?

Through heartfelt reflection and cultural commentary, this episode addresses victim blaming, sexual abuse disclosure, collective trauma, and the emotional impact of not being believed. Dawn unpacks how society conditions women to prevent harm while often failing to hold perpetrators accountable—and why staying human requires us to lean in, not look away.

If you’ve ever struggled with how to respond to abuse disclosures, questioned your own story, or want to become a safer, more empathetic person, this conversation offers trauma-informed insight, healing validation, and practical perspective.

Topics include:

1. How to respond when someone says “This happened to me”
2. The psychology of abuse disclosure and survivor vulnerability
3. The cultural impact of victim blaming
4. Collective trauma and current headlines
5. Why “I believe you” can change someone’s life

This episode is for survivors, allies, therapists, coaches, and anyone committed to empathy, accountability, and emotional safety.

This week on Not That Girl Anymore, trauma therapist Dawn Bouillon shares a deeply personal reflection on talking to her daughters about abuse, racism, and the cultural headlines impacting children.

How do we teach our kids to stay human in a world that often rewards silence?

How do we talk about injustice without teaching them to look away?

Dawn explores trauma reactivation, collective grief, protecting children, and why believing victims matters. If you’ve been feeling heavy or activated by recent events, you’re not alone — your nervous system remembers.

Stay human. Don’t look away.

When empathy is labeled weakness, humanity is at risk. A trauma therapist unpacks faith, fear, moral injury, and the cost of silencing compassion.

In this powerful and deeply compassionate episode of Not That Girl Anymore, trauma therapist and coach Dawn Bouillon addresses a growing and unsettling cultural narrative: the idea that empathy is weakness, manipulation, or even sin. Speaking from both clinical expertise and lived experience, Dawn unpacks how empathy has been distorted—particularly in faith-based spaces—and why framing compassion as moral failure causes real psychological, spiritual, and collective harm. This episode explores the difference between empathy and agreement, discernment and fear, obedience and humanity. Dawn connects empathy to nervous system attunement, moral injury, and trauma, revealing how suppressing compassion trains people to distrust their own conscience and disconnect from their bodies. With honesty and humility, she shares her own story of being taught to override love in the name of faith—and the profound healing that began when she trusted her empathy again. This conversation is for anyone wrestling with faith, deconstruction, moral injury, spiritual trauma, or the exhaustion of trying to stay human in a hardened world. If you feel tender, conflicted, or deeply affected by suffering—and have been told that means you’re weak—this episode is a grounding reminder: empathy is not a flaw. It is wisdom, humanity, and courage.