Episode 156: Breaking the Cycle of Trauma (w/ DJ Johnson)
The Forgotten Podcast
The Forgotten Initiative
4.9 • 532 Ratings
🗓️ 26 September 2022
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When we talk about breaking the cycle of trauma, there is no clearer example of this than in the life of DeAntwann “DJ” Johnson. DJ experienced a traumatic childhood that included child abuse, domestic abuse, homelessness, and emotional trauma. As a result of his family life, he entered the Indiana foster care system when he was about 10 years old. As DJ grew up in foster care and entered adulthood, he began to peel back the layers of his story to uncover cycles of trauma and embark on his own healing journey. In this episode, we talk about DJ’s story, how he is working to break generational cycles of trauma, how to cultivate empathy for others, and so much more. I loved this conversation and I know you will too!
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/s13e6/
Learn more about the TFI Advocate role: https://www.tfiadvocate.org/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sharing the stories of the foster care community. This is The Forgotten podcast. |
| 0:08.0 | You know, I think so many things that have been happening in our lives throughout that point, I don't remember having a real reaction. I remember crying. |
| 0:16.0 | I just remember saying, okay, Mom, I just remember saying, all right, well, here's another thing. Here Here's another thing I have to check off the list of, all right, let's just power through this. |
| 0:24.4 | Let's just figure this out. |
| 0:31.4 | Hey, it's Jamie Cabe. |
| 0:33.1 | Welcome back to the Forgotten podcast, where we are highlighting the stories of the people of foster care. |
| 0:39.3 | With every episode, our goal is to help you better understand the foster care community. |
| 0:44.8 | We want to bring you hope and encouragement in your journey and help you support the agency workers, foster parents, vulnerable adults, and children in foster care right where you live. |
| 0:56.4 | If you want to learn more about TFI, catch up on past episodes, read engaging articles, |
| 1:02.2 | or partner with us on mission with a gift of any amount, head over to theforgotten |
| 1:07.8 | initiative.org. We are in this together. Thank you for listening and engaging |
| 1:14.1 | with us. We love having you as part of our family. Okay, it is time. Let's do this. |
| 1:31.5 | So DJ, I'm so happy to have you on the show today. Before we really dive in, I would love to help our listeners get to know you a little bit. |
| 1:37.2 | Give us a little context of who you are. |
| 1:40.6 | And I'll start by just sharing some of the basics. |
| 1:45.0 | But then I want you to fill in the gaps, okay? |
| 1:47.4 | So your husband, a father, an author, a mentor, coach, counselor, and sports statistic. |
| 1:56.5 | Wait, wait, statistician. |
| 2:00.6 | That even that word is hard to say. |
| 2:03.3 | I do. |
| 2:05.4 | But we're going to talk about the time that you spent in foster care and some of the things about your journey. |
| 2:12.2 | But anything to, like, highlight or just give us a little more context about who you are and yeah, let's just start there? |
... |
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