Hey friend, welcome to another episode of Job With Julie. I'm Julie Slahery, and this podcast,

Job With Julie, is an outreach of a ministry called Authentic Immacy, and we are dedicated to

helping people make sense of God and sexuality. When you hear the word abuse, let me ask you

what comes to your mind. Many of us are familiar with more common narratives around abuse.

An older male figure takes advantage of a weaker or younger person.

Or an older family member takes advantage of a young child.

But what about relational abuse?

What if you're a strong, intelligent adult who suddenly find

themselves in a relationship where something feels off, but you also feel bound to loyalty?

And what if you've built a level of trust with somebody who breaches it in the most unexpected

way? Well, this is a story of my guest today, teacher and author, Tricia Lott Williford.

If you've been a job with Julie Lister for a while, you might have heard her story before,

but this is a more private element of her story that she's only recently shared through a book

co-written with her therapist, Jaina Richardson, who is also joining her to explain some of the lesser-known aspects of abusive dynamics and what it takes to break free from them.

The content of this conversation is serious and is potentially triggering for some, so I encourage you to listen with care.

All right, let's get into my conversation with Tricia Lott Wilford and her

therapist, Jana Richardson. Well, Tricia, what a pleasure to have you back on job with Julie.

I always have so much fun in our conversations. And you just bring a depth and a joy to every topic.

But I'm going to warn our listeners that this conversation

is going to be a little bit different because the topic itself is very weighty and heavy

and probably not what you're used to talking about. So thank you for being willing to tackle this.

Thank you very much. I have had a few conversations as we're starting to talk about the release of this book,

...